Cognitive Dissonance
by Alis Volat Propris
Summary: One wasn't supposed to live when they encountered Uchiha Itachi. Could she call this living? Sakura wasn't quite so sure anymore. Dark Ita/Saku. This may or may not have a plot in the future.
1. He kindly stopped for me

AN: It hit me. In my defense I simply couldn't resist. Itasaku is just too good to pass up. The title is not mine, others have used it but I feel that it fits and aligns itself perfectly with Itasaku-ness.

Cognitive dissonance refers to anxiety that results from simultaneously holding contradictory or otherwise incompatible attitudes, beliefs, or the like, as when one likes a person but disapproves strongly of one of his or her habits. ()

"_Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me..."_ -Emily Dickinson-

She sailed through the trees, gasping for breathe as she turned, launching more shuriken at her pursuers, using their halted dodge to gain speed. To keep from being killed. Tired from running so far already, she was loosing more ground than she was gaining. She shook her head, desperate to press forward. She needed to conserve her energy if she expected to make it back to Konoha alive. She would have to turn and fight.

"Kimoto, report" She demanded through their com link as she dodged, weaving through the trees with alarming speed to try and loose them in the forest. It wasn't enough, it was never enough it seemed, as lines of senbon barely missed her, landing with a thunk in the helpful tree she hid behind. She tried to shake them, but it was useless as she was too tired for that kind of speed. Sakura didn't have the dexterity needed for such evasive maneuvers. She wasn't a long range fighter, in short proximity, at least not in the air as this fight was. It would be one thing if they were on the ground, but they were blocking her from getting there. If she jumped down from the trees, she would loose her only source of cover and protection and they would have her before she hit the ground. And she didn't have enough chakra to risk it. Damn these kumo ninja!

"Taishou, trouble-Ak-Ahg!" Kimoto's agonizing scream pierced through the link, making the girl nearly halt in her stupor.

"Kimoto!" Sakura gasped, and her little failure was all the excuse they needed, as kumo ninja kunai grazed her upper arm and thigh.

She stumbled forward in her surprise, cursing, and fell through the canopy of trees, the ground coming far too fast the floor coming dizzily into view. This was exactly what she hadn't wanted, what they had been waiting for. If she didn't do something she would die. Eyes widened, tears blurring, as bloodshot eyes alit. Adrenaline gland pumping and flaring to life, Sakura found the burst of energy she needed. Turning mid air, she threw her own katana straight at them, impaling both of them who were too close behind to dodge, a lucky break for her.

Now she had to avoid becoming a splat on the ground. Trees sailed past her eyes, as Sakura reached, grabbing desperately for the tree branch that would catch her fall. Her fingers grazed one, bruising from the impact, and slicing the inside of her knuckles. She hissed in pain, breaking one of her fingers with a sick snap, but she caught the the third branch beneath it, as her arm wrenched, halting her from danger. She cried out in pain, but held on tightly, scrambling desperately for her life. Her enemies hit the ground with a sickening squelch of skin, and steel into the grass below. Sakura twisted, with a groan, managing to get her foot on the trunk and get herself safely on the branch. She shakily stood,weary as she tried to maintain her balance but her vision was blurry from the pain. That was close, far too close for any sort of comfort.

Panting, closing her eyes to fight off the bout of dizziness, she focused, pulling her chakra out. Applying some healing chakra to her arm, Sakura tried to get her head on straight. But her thoughts were too fear filled, with scattered moments of terror to piece them al ltogether. They had been ambushed, expected from the very start she thought sadly. Her plans had failed. All of their hard effort was wasted. She tried to shake off the inevitable dread she felt, but reality was sinking in, drowning her, suffocating her with it's truth. Defeat and weary dejection were coursing through her veins as they pounded, resounding and echoing her hearts movement.

Half her men were dead and she was responsible for them. It had been her job to make sure they went back home alive. Her mission had long since gone haywire. It was about surviving at this point, and bringing back as many men alive as she possibly could. If that was even possible now. She had fucked up, badly... and people's lives had paid for her costly mistake. It was their blood splattered across her grey vest, staining it. And there was a good chance she could die out here, herself. Jade eyes twitched in agony, brownish purple blotches stained beneath her eyes from little to no sleep as bloodshot green eyes blinked wearily. Pulling her twin katana out of the dead ninja with a grimace, she did her best to get the blood off, wiping her face with her forearm, though she knew she would never get their blood off, never be able to forget their faces. They had trusted her...Sakura trembled. She didn't have time for this. She had to find the rest of her men. Whatever had happened she needed to save them and avoid getting herself killed in the process.

Disappearing with ninja speed, she flickered in and out between the trees, trying to track through the dwindling chakra signatures of her men, whoever it was attacking them. Hiding behind the tree, she peaked out cautiously though her body rebelled against her surging her forward as she overbalanced and teetered.

A tall man stood above Taisuki, her best genjutsu user, second to herself. Long black hair and a black cloak with...red clouds. But that wasn't possible. Instead she focused on the blood spilling out of his body in a pool beneath him.

She had taught him, had spent countless hours improving his genjutsu to use in the field. They had bleed for each other, shed tears of frustration and heartache together. He was one of her precious nakama, the few she had left. And she could only stand there in transmuted horror as she watched.

"Ahg, the death god take you himself" Taisuki cried out in a curse, as the person holding him drove his thumbs into his eye sockets. Sakura didn't flinch.

"Pathetic." The man's lilting tenor voice told the dying body in his arms.

"Go to hell" Taisuki sputtered.

And at this she could see the corner of his pale mouth turn upwards in the hint of a smile, though she could only see the look of horror across her dying comrade's face.

"_You first_" He told him, and released the body of Taisuki. It slumped to the ground, never to move again as it twitched and convulsed in the final signs of death. Taisuki was dead. Kimoto was dead. Her men were dead. And he had killed them.

Sakura's eyes widened, transfixed, frozen by what could not possibly be, standing before her very eyes. Hands snapped up, stepping into the open, as she forced the words to break the genjutsu stumbling in her haste. Sakura was a master of genjutsu as this point, able to detect the subtle things people did to try and play with her mind. What shocked her to the core. What was simply unconceivable about the entire situation was that. It. Was. No. Genjutsu.

But that simply wasn't possible. This man was dead. She blinked her eyes, scrubbing them as she stumbled forward, exhausted and brought to the edge of her sanity. The man clearly looked like Uchiha Itachi, the older brother, and mass murderor of the Uchiha clan but this couldn't be real. It wasn't true, she willed, praying, betting against it with everything she had. Yet as much as she prayed as she willed it to fall apart in front of her, for him to vanish as the ghost he was, there he stood, the walking dead. But that was wrong, so wrong that there was no way it could possibly be right. He was dead. Dead people don't just get up and walk around and kill the people you know. Everyone in the ninja world knew that he was dead, had been dead for some time. Sasuke had killed him with his own hands, before turning to darkness unending. The blue stars danced in Sakura's eyes and she fought her body to avoid passing out.

Itachi turned, kunai, and bloody hands, complimenting those blood red sharingan looked her straight in the eyes, searing straight into her soul with his look. Her stomach curdled, she felt cold, chilled to the soul by his haunted look. This monster, disguised as an angel. He was completely emotionless as he stared at her. She could hear the rustle of silk, smell the sick stench of death and decay and blood. Dead people smelt like this, but they didn't look her in the eyes like this man did. Entranced, estranged, Sakura could only stand there and stare.

The clouds shifted in the sky, the moon appearing like some unholy ethereal light sending luminescent beams on him, making her wonder if he really was an apparition, but she'd be able to see through a ghost. No, worse still, she could make out the beads of moisture sticking to his skin and hair, making him that much more real. He was deathly pale and deathly beautiful in this moment, though this thought was fleeting. The stray thought rotted, crushed as she knew with certainty that she would die. He would end her if this was who he seemed. The only sound was her ragged breath and the blood dripping from his fingers, into the grass with the rest of the blood from her men.

Uchiha Itachi lifted his hands each filled with two kunai, one clutched in his bloody fingers, staining the blade, and Sakura tensed, broken from her induced like trance as her body once again reminded her that she should be fighting for her life, that standing still would only get her killed and that she wasn't the kind to stand still and die. He launched the kunai and she braced herself for impact, wondering if she was fast enough to retaliate, but they flew past her, hitting the kumo ninja behind her, as they fell to the floor, dead. Sakura flinched as she felt their bodies drop, lifeless to the floor. Uchiha Itachi stood, her shuriken, deflected and stuck in an aspen tree to the right of him.

Sakura's breath hitched, as she began to tremble. Dead men didn't kill other people. Dead men didn't walk around. Dead men couldn't deflect her shuriken. Corpses could be animated but not by looking like this man did, not a day from the grave. No markings, scars, or deformed properties were about this man. He was very much alive to her unfortunate prognosis.

"Who are you?" she heard herself whisper, her throat convulsing in pain and horror as she swallowed. For if this truly was Uchiha Itachi, then she definitely would not leave this place alive.

He seemed to pause, musing on her question, tilting his head slightly at an angle as he gave her a considering look. Those red eyes never left her own. He turned from her, and Sakura was shocked that he was showing her his back.

"Who do you think I am?" He replied, as he turned his head again blood red sharingan pulling her, drawing her in towards him.

She looked upon him, the black silk, the red clouds that she would recognize in her darkest nightmares, in her clearest thoughts. She looked back up at him again.

"You can't be who I think you are." She replied, looking away from him and towards the ground where her dead men lay.

He had done this to them, she thought sadly. Sakura's head hurt, pounding, throbbing as she clutched it in agony. How long had she been on this mission? How many sleepless nights plagued her? How many hours had she been fighting this loosing battle, for it all to come to this?

Those black sooty eyelashes fluttered in the moonlight and he took three steps closer to her. Sakura was paralyzed in place. For ghosts didn't walk, didn't leave imprints in the grass where his feet had previously tread. This was real.

"And why not?" Itachi asked her, staring at her beneath his thick eyelashes, haughtily challenging her to answer him. Was he toying with her?

Sasuke....Itachi....Uchiha. Sakura's head spun, the dizzying effect causing her to grab her head to stop it. Had she suffered a head wound?

"because that man is dead." Sakura replied firmly, unwavering though her body rebelled against her in the action.

"And yet here I stand. Living." Itachi retorted, with a heated whisper, dark smirk gracing his proud features.

In that moment he looked so much like Sasuke that it made her heart ache. But that was impossible too. Sasuke had sworn to kill her the next time he saw her, the last time she had seen him. Was this divine justice? The right of a brother to take what his other brother had offered? To kill her?

"Why are you here?" Sakura demanded, though her tone trembled.

She was afraid of this man, had been afraid of this man since she was a little girl, told superstitious bed time stories over and over of this man and his exploits. His massacre, the massacre, a promise in waiting, in her case. The air was chill, and it began to snow, the snow flakes touching the ground around them. This was surreal.

"I came to give you a gift" He told her, stepping closer to her.

Sakura froze, tensing as she realized she couldn't move a muscle. He had some sort of jutsu on her, preventing her from moving. Struggling, with a protested cry, she fought against the sightless bindings, until she felt his touch on her throat. Three fingers walked their way up it and she couldn't move, couldn't breathe couldn't blink as she trembled, choking on stale breathe as she turned to him. His chapped lips settled against her very flesh with a chaste kiss near the corner of her eye. She blinked, gasping in a desperate burst of air, as she could move, was free. Itachi was no where to be seen. Panicked, she looked around, but he was no where within sight. She could not sense him.

She could however, sense the low pulse of two of her men's wavering chakra. They were close, a few yards away. Sakura made her way towards them, thankful that there was someone, anyone alive. Thankful as she got to thinking. That she had crossed death in passing and lived to tell the tale.


	2. Quietly sweating, palm to palm

AN: Itasaku. Simple. Dark. Sweet. Dancing inspired with obvious reason, by the labyrinth but not the same by any stretch of the means.

"_But when the wearied band swoons, to a waltz I take her hand, and there we sit in peaceful calm, quietly sweating palm to palm"- Aldous Huxley-_

Sakura gasped, stumbling as she dragged her two fallen men on makeshift sleds through the snow, their bodies heavy, getting heavier as the hours tolled by. Sweat dripped down her brow, into the scarf wrapped tight around her mouth and neck, annoying in it's stickiness. Her neck was soaked, the cold air causing her to shiver. She was already sticky with sweat that had frozen and melted only to freeze again with the dropping temperatures. Gloved fingers and wet feet felt numb in the glistening purity of several inches of fresh snow.

The kumo ninja had given up the chase with the blizzard that only she was crazy enough to traverse through, though she was through the worst of it now, as few snow flakes fell around her. She could only hope her luck would hold out. Every fiber in her being ached, but it didn't matter because she was almost safe. They were almost safe. If she could just keep putting one foot in front of the other.. if she could keep moving she wouldn't freeze to death. They wouldn't freeze to death. She wouldn't let these men die. She had used the last deep reserves of her chakra to save them, to stabilize their condition and now if she could get them to the transport they were home free. Anbu were waiting at the rendevous. They would get them home, if she could reach them in time.

Agonizing breath, shuttered in and out, retreated from her lungs, sticking to her scarf. Her arms burned from the strain of dragging them in the snow on makeshift sleds. Her skin burned from miscellanious cuts, mingling with her sweat, and from the dry harsh cold around her chaffiing her skin. Sakura could barely keep her bloodshot eyes open. She couldn't keep this up. Not like this. She needed to stop. She couldn't go on further, less she risk her own life and theirs. She couldn't defend them, or herself the way she was now. She'd be picked off by hunter nin if they caught her. She trudged forward, sullenly, praying for her agony to be over. Until she heard the caw of a bird

Kunai out, adrenaline about the only thing keeping her standing, she eyed the feathered compatriot, with suspicion. It cawed again, and flew to a nearby rock, turning its head to look at her from an angle expectantly.

Sakura blinked her eyes again, disbelieving the sight in front of her. She rubbed her tired eyes wondering if she was. A crow. A crow as black as his hair, as his soul. One man had such familiars, dealt with such illusions. That man. Shivering as she felt the chill take her, her mind lingered on t_hat man_. He had murdered everyone in the Uchiha clan, but Sasuke. Sasuke who walked in darkness unending, Sasuke who had killed what she loved most. Sakura felt her heart clench at the thought and fought the tears with desperation.

This wasn't about Sasuke. This was about Itachi. He had kissed her. Sort of. He had said he wanted to give her a gift but he had never explained that statement. Had he meant her men? Sakura's cheeks were red with exertion before. They tingled for an entirely different reason now. Shame. He had touched her, bound her so that she couldn't move, a jutsu that she had been unfamiliar with. He had taken, stolen from her, touched her and tainted her with his touch. Sakura's bloodshot eyes narrowed in anger at the memory. How dare he touch her with such unclean hands.

She did not need his help, would not accept it. She could make it back on her own without someone such as _his_ help. She ignored the bird, and it cawed further, annoyed, it seemed, at her passing. She moved on, grunting with exertion as she had stopped and now had to work up the effort to the get the two sleds moving again, her muscles protesting in agony. Until she felt something sharp hit her skull.

Crying out in pain and surprise, the blood warm, and dripping down her head, stained on it's beak, she glared up at the bird. Irritated and annoyed she launched a kunai at it as she released the sleds to do so. But that was stupid, as it dodged, twirling mid flight and crooning victoriously. The bird landed again on the rock, cawing at her. Sakura groaned wanting to pull out her hair in the frustration of it all. If she continued fighting with the bird she would waste precious energy. The other factor was that the bird was loud and could attract more attention then she could possibly deal with in the moment. It kept turning to look at her, it's beady eyes glowing red in the moonlight.

But she couldn't shake the feeling that it was somehow...in someway trying to get her attention. It wasn't an ordinary animal that much was clear to her now. It might be an illusion but it was at the very least a summons and it knew who she was. The only thing a summons could find was someone it had seen before now. Sakura couldn't send her slugs to find an anonymous person. Kakashi could send his ninja dogs but they were trained. The crow cawed again impatiently as it ruffled it's feathers. She might be insane but she wondered if it was trying to tell her something, to follow it.

But she knew who it belonged to now. Those red eyes gleamed in the light of the moon, just like his. Itachi. What could someone like _him_ possibly want with _her_? Sakura chewed on her lip at the thought. Her stomach turned. How was it that he was alive? Why had he met her like he did? What did he want from her. Sakura's mind spun with the questions, and of course her obvious conclusion being that he wanted to kill her. But he'd had ample opportunity to do so in the clearing. He hadn't hurt her, though he had killed her men...But what other option did she have? If this crow knew a safe place for her, then she had to take it, because Sakura wouldn't make it another mile without resting. And she couldn't leave herself and her men out in the open like this in the heart of enemy territory.

She dragged the bodies behind her, the crow's call's beckoning insistently, flying forward and returning to guide her, as Sakura pushed herself forward. No doubt about it, it was leading her, though whether it was to safety or a trap, Sakura couldn't predict. The crow led her around to a cluster of rocks. It flew into a cranny between them and disappeared from sight. Sakura's look grew considering. The crow came back out, chattering angrily at her slowness, and swooping down on her. Sakura ignored it, looking for a place to hide the bodies of her men in the formation as she could crawl in there but her could not. The crow flew to the stone and pecked at the bottom, cawing at her. As it would be stupid to have followed it this far, and to stop half way, Sakura decided to examine it.

Beneath the rock was a ledge, perfect for her men as it covered them from the front, the way the rock face was formed was a man made nitch safe from the harsh weather. Sakura herself wouldn't have thought to look behind that if she was hunting for enemy nin because of it's natural contours. Sakura dragged the bodies of her men into it, the crows insistent caws forcing her own haste. She had bundled them for the ride with the cloaks she could they were adequately hidden, huddled next to each other with her own cloak about them to help ward off the chill, Sakura was exhausted. But she still had to place the genjutsu or someone would find their chakra signatures. She flew through the hand seals, finally releasing it into the area. Grimly smiling she had barely been able to pull that off. Sakura stumbled numbly to the crag, falling through it as she fell inside, her body finally giving out on her. The rock kept off the chill of the wind, beginning to howl as the sky grew darker.

The rock floor was cold, and it was tiny, but perfect enough if Sakura curled up. The floor was scattered with dry grass that kept the rock floor from being unbearably cold. Sakura was grateful, as she peeled off her pack, crawling and unzipping it and reaching inside for her own standard mission bedroll and her rations. If she made it through the night, what little was left, she would be surprised. Curled in her anbu standard blanket inside her bedroll, curled, lying on the dried grasses instead of the cold stone, Sakura fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

_Sakuras dream revolved around those ruby sharingan eyes and she felt herself dive into them, through them as if they were a pond or lake. She was drowning, suffocating and being smothered, and she cried out, only for the red to invade her body, her lungs filling. Screaming though the red muffled it's sound, Sakura's eyes began to turn dark. Slowly she was loosing her vision, adding to her hysterics as she kicked and struggled trying to find the surface, but she couldn't tell what was up from down. Air bubbles escaped and Sakura's vision tuned black._

_ When she opened her eyes she was completely dry in a place unfamiliar. Crows lined the wall of this circular space, perched atop a rail as they cawed, a cacophany of sinister intent, though the light on them was dim, not enough to light whatever floor she stood on, but enough to recognize the malevolent birds for what they were. Sakura shivvered, their red eyes all on her scaring her, frightening her in a way she couldn't understand. A circular dance floor in the shape and color of the sharingan lit up, and Sakura realized she was standing on it. The room was dark, only lit where she stepped as the spotlight followed her as she walked. _

_ She wore a red dress, her short pink hair down and around her, parted to the side and kept out of her face by a jewel encrusted pin. The necklace she wore was tight, and beaded with intricacy, black jewels interspersed between the beads. Black lacey gloves covered her hands up to her elbows and the dress was elegant with its red and black lace and bright silk. Her top was a corset style, bound and laced in the back though it did not hinder her breathing. Sakura felt the heat rise to her cheeks, as it was far more daring than anything Sakura would have chosen for herself. The skirt connected, and plumed out, ribbons and bows on the back. She wore a hoopskirt as it fanned out around her, though it did not weigh her down. Her shoes were red heels, strappy, but they did not hurt her feet. _

_ I must be dreaming, she thought. A comfortable dress, and shoes. A sliver of light forced her to turn, and she walked towards it, without fear. In front of her was mirror and she gasped at herself, at the transformation. She was beautiful, sultry and seductive looking, though her eyes retained her innocence. Looking up again in the mirror she saw him behind her, and she felt his arm rest on her shoulder. Gasping, trying to protest, but her body seemed to deny her, offering her hand as he took it, placing a kiss on the back of her wrist, burning, though lace stood between those thin lips and her skin. Sakura walked with him as he led her to the center of the dance floor and began to place where he kissed her began to pulse, a low throb. _

_ "What is this?" She asked him, green eyes holding his own sharingan. _

_ "Your dreams" He told her, leading with grace and dignity. He wore a black frock coat with a high collared red lace shirt, pluming out of his dignified coat. _

_ "This is no dream of mine" She replied, eyes hard as she stiffened in his grip. _

_ He smirked, eyes darkening in intensity. "I beg to differ Sakura. You desire a love story that is timeless, classic in an insipid way, dreary and, dull. Not worthy of someone as enchanting as yourself" Itachi told her. _

_ Sakura's eyes darkened. "You don't know my dreams, or my desires. You're speculating, nothing more." She replied firmly, pink eyebrows drawing together. _

_ "Is that so?"Itachi murmured, hot breathe on her ear, burning as she felt her cheeks dust a rosy red. Damn him for his effect on her. He seemed to have an uncanny knack for making her uncomfortable and off balanced. _

_ "Would you rather I use the mangekyou on you for other purposes? "He whispered, sultry and sooty voice giving her pause. _

_ "The mangekyou?" She asked, licking her lips, at once frightened and startled out of the spelled reverie she'd nearly fallen into. _

_ Kakashi sensei had been a victim of it, and she had seen him in the hospital bed, the chance that he might never awaken again resounding in her mind, forcing it to clear. _

_ "This is my world, Sakura, it would behoove you to listen to what I have to tell you" Itachi told her. _

_ "And what if I don't want to listen?How can I trust you?" She asked, feeling her throat dry, as he pulled her close, twirling her. _

_ She felt dizzy, the dizziness of having too much drink, and her head spun. She closed her eyes against it, and her vision straightened, as the dance returned to a simple waltz, Itachi leading her. It occurred to her in that moment that Sakura had no idea how to dance, that her body was acting of it's own volition in a way that she had never trained or seen. _

_ "You will soon discover that I am not afraid to be cruel, Sakura. You are my guest here.... though that can easily change" Itachi told her, as the eerie music began to play, picking up in intensity. _

_ "Guest? You mean prisoner" Sakura replied, as she tried to un twine her hand from his, to take her other gloved hand off of his arm. She couldn't do it. _

_ "Perspective is everything, Sakura." He told her, eyes dancing as they danced together, spinning around the floor. Sakura looked at her feet, startled by her ability, by his own. With a start, she realized that the tomoe on the floor were moving as if a live sharingan. _

_ Startled, she looked back up at Itachi. _

_ "Why are you doing this? Why me?"Sakura asked, green eyes searching his own_

_ "Ah yes, the undeserved attention. Th uncertainty. The trepidation in your tone is vaguely insulting, Sakura. Do you truly believe you don't deserve it?" Itachi asked her, eyes looking deep into her own. _

_ "I don't understand-" She began, though his eyes were laughing at her, the crows above echoing their master as Sakura shivered. _

_ "Why give me gifts and come to me? Why send your familiar to guide me? Why help me when I nearly died?Why didn't you kill me?" Sakura asked him, frightened by this nightmare, this fantasy land of sorts, by the intensity in his gaze in which he stared at her. _

_ "So inquisitive" Itachi replied, leaning forward as he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. The touch seared, burned and Sakura flinched, retreating as she realized she could finally move, and promptly moved away from him and his heated touch. _

_ "What did you do to me?" She demanded as she touched her forehead, reaching for her chakra. She had chakra in this world then! _

_ Itachi only looked more amused, if possible, and Sakura's eyes darkened at his look. How dare he be so calm and collected about this. He was mocking her, making fun of her as he had in the forest. Toying with her. _

_ "I will come to you. Soon." He promised, and the dream ended. _

* * *

Blinking her dry eyes blearily, Sakura realized that she'd slept the entire day. Her dreams were filled of Itachi, a thought that soured all others. The storm was still brewing but her chakra reserves were there, nearly full. Reaching into her depths, she healed her wounds, and searched her pack. She had taken kumo's rations as dead people no longer needed to eat and when her men awoke they would need sustenance too. She ate the rations more out of necessity than hunger. She couldn't heal men on an empty stomach and being more physically weak than she already was wouldn't help them get to Konoha. She had more important things to do than focus on the portent of her dreams. Wrapping the blanket around her, she scanned for ki, before poking her head outside. Snow and wind made it nearly impossible to see but that was alright, in fact perfect for her to make the trek with them to konoha.

Sakura crawled her way down to the nook where her men lay. Their color had improved, though she'd used the last of her chakra to stabilize them before falling asleep. They were still unconscious though, a bad sign. She put her healing chakra to use patching up the rest of them, though there was nothing she could do to wake them. They needed to be hospitalized and treated as soon as possible. This thought spurred her actions. Grabbing the sleds, she made haste, setting off the for the rendezvous point with haste.


	3. A thousand words

AN: I see some frustration with Kakashi in regards to Sakura and I wanted to write out some of that tension as it appears to be in character. Sakura has grown up, but Kakashi cant accept that. There might be some Kaka/Saku to this fic as well, seeing as how I've never gotten the itch to write for that pairing.

Your reviews encourage and in most cases inspire and prompt me to write more, so thank you for my loyals who always review. Yours especially, when you become a regular to my fics, mean the most. Heartfelt moosh and showers of love your way, my precious lovelies!

_"A thousand words will not leave such an impression as one act" -Henrik Ibsen-_

Tsunade hadn't given up hope on her apprentice, though it was looking dour. Her chances of survival were slim to start with, growing less and less as the hours tolled by. The odds were never in her favor, and she had known death far too well to hope at her age. It was why she hadn't slept well or long these past few days. What was worse is that Tsunade had done her time in the field, knew the exact percentage based on the time missing. It was why she was filling out her paperwork. For once Shizune wouldn't have to chew her out, and take away her sake. Her sake was the only thing keeping her in the village. Damn her responsibility. Tsunade grit her teeth, hazel eyes grim, but determined as she jotted through notes at the hospital.

She couldn't leave as the hokage, no matter how much she desired to. She had been running from responsibility because he precious people kept dying. People would die one way or another, and it might as well be while she was doing something about it. But the cost of responsibility, the price of living out the way of the ninja, her precious apprentice, was too much to bear. Tsunade rested her head in her hands taking a deep breathe, as she sat in the hospital office. It was peaceful here, no mosying ninja, no assistants and anbu jutting in and out, or people bothering her. It was comfortable, but small, unlike her gigantic desk. Nurses stopped by, but only disturbed her for medical knowledge and her expertise. By leaving shizune at the office, Tsuande was left to work here in peace.

She had arrived at the hospital originally to fill in where her apprentice had left off these past two days. There were several delicate surgeries that were desperately missing Sakura's sure steady hand. The pink haired medic hadn't returned from her last anbu mission. Recently promoted as an anbu captain, Tsunade had never been so proud of Haruno Sakura. It was a well deserved promotion, the girl finally capable of holding her own weight and the weight and responsibility of others. Tsunade had warned her against the responsibility of others. They were medics who fought death, and sometimes, more often than not, lost. It made them fools, made them think they were invincible, could defeat anyone and anything. It gave naïve hope, where reality could shatter it, in an instant. Sakura had nodded and left for her mission. She hadn't returned. Neither had any of her men. Tsunade ignored the knot that tightened, coiling for days in her stomach. She downed another dish of sake, relishing the burn, and how it took the hard edge off of her turmoil.

Sakura had been missing for more than ninety six hours and change. No word, no sign no clue of her had been discovered. She hadn't been at the rendezvous point but that didn't mean that she wasn't alive. At least that's what Tsunade believed. Danzo had come up with a thousand wild stories of Sakura's alleged defecting from Konoha and spread them like wildfire among the elders. They had forced her hand in the matter, resolving a time limit for the girl to show up. Tsunade would have to formally submit the paperwork today, as Sakura had been missing too long. But the anbu that she had sent had not reached the site of her last known trajectory yet. The hokage refused to think anything further than that. Sakura was brilliant, one of her most talented apprentice's and she had a good head on her shoulders. She would return.

"Hokage sama! Emergency! Haruno taishou is here with two-"

Tsunade was already leaping past her, barreling down the hallways with speed Kakashi might have envied. She burst through the double door of the hospital, panting as her eyes took in the most welcoming sight.

Sakura, worse for the wear and thinner than the older woman liked to see, stumbled to her knees, two men in makeshift sleds beside her.

"Shishou..." She murmured, eyes rolling back into her head, before passing out at her mastor's feet.

* * *

Voices, female and male fuzzily made their way to her ears. At first Sakura thought she was dreaming this all, but then she could make out distinct voices....Tsunade Shishou, and what had to be Kakashi sensei. Sakura groaned, turning her face into the pillow. Everything ached, pulsing with a dull throb of pain, especially her arms. She would have liked nothing better than to go back to sleep, but she heard _her _voice.

"Good morning sunshine." Tsunade practically ordered. Sakura knew that tone of voice. She blinked, black eye lashes kissing her pale cheeks as she forced them groggily open.

"Shishou..." Sakura murmured, feeling wain and weak.

"I need you to tell me what happened, Sakura" Tsunade told her, hazel eyes completely serious.

Sakura swallowed. Kakashi stood next to her, sharingan revealed and out in the open as he eyed her. Sakura smiled weakly.

"I realize you're not in the best of conditions right now, and everything probably isn't clear. But Danzo is asking for your head on a platter, and I need you to submit your paperwork through me so that I can clear your name before this goes too far." Tsunade told her.

Sakura nodded in understanding. Tsunade was only trying to help and she had responsibilities to the village. She was taking precious time away from Tsunade's work as hokage and she already slept so little as it was. She opened her mouth and was surprised by her hoarse cracking voice. She coughed, trying to swallow. Kakashi handed her a glass of water, to which she drank, the cool water helping ease her dry throat as she nodded her thanks.

"We-we were ambushed. Whoever told us the drop off would be in that clearing had kumo ninja waiting for us. They took us by complete surprise, attacking. We had problems in the beginning with hunter nin so we were weak to start that fight. We scattered and tried to spread them out, to regroup and turn them, but... there were just too many." Sakura swallowed the tears she felt dripping down her cheeks, trying to be strong. This was too important to be choked up with emotion.

"I was able to defeat the ones after me, I broke my finger and nearly wrenched my arm out of my socket but I did it. I then went to find the rest of my men." Sakura said.

She paused, collecting herself. Should she tell Tsunade about what happened? About Uchiha Itachi? What would her mastor say? Sakura felt sick. If she told her about it, she would be referred for a mental evaluation, could loose her captain's position. But then again she might loose her captain's position because of her predicament anyways. And if Uchiha Itachi was alive, Tsunade shishou needed to know, every one needed to know. Her returning with two unconcious men alive, did not look good for her prospects. Sakura returned with her life, but the elders could just as easily take it. She was the captain of her squad and of the 30 men that went out with her that day, only three, herself included returned. Her loyalty would already be questioned. She might be removed from active duty and be suspended to the village with parole anbu. She had no active witnesses to confirm anything she had seen or heard that night. The only proof was the two men she had found, but they were unconscious upon her finding them. Sakura felt the tears through her closed eyes spilling down her cheeks as she trembled.

"Sakura..." Tsunade said, kindly. "I know its difficult, but what else happened. You need to tell me everything you know."

Sakura looked up, Green eyes bright with her tears.

"I know you may think I'm crazy...but I have to tell you this. Its too important." She began.

Kakashi leaned back against the counter, folding his arms as he listened. Tsunade folded her hands in her lap, nodding in acknowledgment.

"I-I don't know for sure. But I have reason to suspect that Uchiha Itachi is still alive." She blurted quickly.

Thunderstruck expressions crossed her two teacher's eyes, as they exchanged unspoken words with their glance and Sakura felt her stomach drop, but continued on, biting the inside of her cheek to force the words out. She couldn't stop there. She had to explain herself, she had to make them understand the gravity of the situation. To make herself seem less...incriminating.

"He killed Kimoto and Taisuki...right in front of my eyes. I saw them fall, their bodies are still in the clearing. I thought I was going to die, only he killed the kumo ninja persuing me. I had only begun to ask him what he wanted when he..he disappeared." Sakura's tone shook mimicking the actions of her body.

"So he never explained his motives?" Kakashi asked, tone cool and controlled.

"No" Sakura shook her head.

"How did you know it was Uchiha Itachi?" Tsunade asked her.

"I got a good look at him in the forest when he attacked when I was younger, shishou. He wore the akatsuki cloak, and had long hair and had the sharingan. This man looked the same. I could feel that his chakra signature was there, though it was cloaked. He stepped into the light of the moon and had dew drops on him. Genjutsu isn't that clear" She replied trying to redeem her badly communicated efforts.

Both Kakashi and Tsunade looked at her with a frown. Sakura deflated, defeated by their gaze. She couldn't bear their looks, so she hid beneath her short pink hair, as the tears fell down. Of course they didn't believe her. Who would believe that she had seen a dead man walking?

"....you tried to counter and break the genjutsu? Right Sakura?" Kakashi asked her, gray and red eye looking down at her with a piercing gaze.

Sakura's head shot up, jade eyes narrowed. He was already assuming she was back to her chuunin self. Of course he would ask something so low, would think so badly of her. She'd been trying since her childhood to get Kakashi to see her strength. He couldn't seem to let go of his first impression of her. and now he was taunting her with basics a geinin would know.

"It was the first thing I tried to do." Sakura snapped, clenching her fist.

"Did you try drawing your own blood to break it?" Kakashi countered tone hardening as her own rose to challenge his.

Sakura's eyes widened. She hadn't. Sakura hadn't tried drawing her own blood to counter had forgotten the most basic rules of counter genjutsu. She, one of the top genjutsu users in the anbu squads. Sakura felt numb, hollow and wretched. Stupid stupid stupid. How could it have not occurred to her to do such a stupid basic thing? She closed her eyes, placing her face in her hands as she felt the shuddering sobs break through emotionally overwhelmed by the entire situation. Her lungs rattled and she half choked half sobbed as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to regain control.

"Sakura, if you didn't break the skin to try and counter it, then it could have been a very well made genjutsu, though the fact that there might be a ninja with better talent than yours out there is a scary thought" Tsunade told her.

"You don't understand-" Sakura began.

"Uchiha Itachi is dead, Sakura. His body was consumed by his own technique amaterasu. There's no way he is alive." Kakashi told her. "You saw what was probably a damn good Genjutsu and it was enough to throw you"

"How much sleep had you had before then?" Tsunade asked, hazel eyes critical and professional. Shishou was evaluating her condition as a medic.

Sakura flinched. Tsunade didn't believe her. That's what that question boiled down to. Sakura swallowed though the hard lump in her throat nor the nauseous feeling in her stomach disappeared with the effort. She didn't want to answer the question as she knew the logical conclusion Tsunade was jumping to. Knew the list of probable side effects Tsunade thought she was suffering from. She thought Sakura was hallucinating.

"Sakura?" Tsunade asked again, eying the girl.

"I hadn't slept for fourty hours, shishou" Sakura's tone was lifeless, defeated. Yes she had been tired but she knew what she had seen with her own eyes. What she had felt when his lips had burned near her eyes. Her eyes were burning, stinging now with shame.

Tsunade merely nodded clinically and jotted notes down on her paper. So this was how others felt, as patients of her shishou. Sakura felt small and insignificant in that moment.

"Sakura..." Kakashi began, raking a hand through his silver hair as he eyed her. It was nice that he was feeling guilty about accusing her, but it didn't stop him from pressing forward. "was there any distinguishing feature on the man you thought you saw to confirm his identity as Uchiha Itachi?"

"Only what I saw and heard" Sakura replied. "He talked to me. Full sentences."

"What did he say to you?" Tsunade asked.

"He said he brought me a gift, and that was when I found my two men that I brought back." She murmured, twisting her hands in the blanket on her lap. The smell of the hospital had once brought comfort. Now she could understand why anbu were superstitious about this place. It smelled of sterilized equipment and death. She could smell the death now, when before she hadn't. Sakura marvelled at the change. It smelled like _him_ and she shivered involuntarily.

"Why would Uchiha Itachi, if he were alive, bother with you then?" Kakashi stated the question. Though he hadn't meant it coldly, it left its mark none the less. Sakura flinched from the unforeseen blow, felt the air leave her throat as it tightened, tremors threatening to break loose. He was asking the very question she was asking herself. Why would Uchiha Itachi bother with a no name like her. She didn't know. She didn't _know_.

Sakura choked, tears spilling down her cheeks in floods, whilst she wept into her hands.

"That's enough for now." Tsunade said, laying a comforting hand on her apprentice's shoulder. "Just go back to bed, Sakura." Tsunade said, motherly. Sakura nodded through her sob wanting nothing more than to curl up and sleep away this disaster, this memory.


	4. Absorb without being absorbed

AN: I'm hoping this will be a little bit different than the other fics I've written. Basically I'm trying to nurse my other fics plot bunnies back to health. I always have to be writing even if I don't have the plot bunnies because it's how I deal with the stress and frustration. Its my escape from the real world and it's crappy disappointments. But I hope my alter world is still realistic in it's hardships and victories.

Took a shot at the most recent manga ka of kishi's. Curse you for keeping Itachi dead! I always enjoy writing Tsunade and I used to love writing Tsunade and Sasuke interactions. I still do, but this was a thrill and a pleasure to write the Kakashi Tsunade interaction. Bending the copy nin to the Hokage's will is truly a task worthy of the blonde. It might happen in other fics now too, haha.

_His claim to his home is deep, but there are too many ghosts. He must absorb without being absorbed. -William Morris-_

Kakashi and Tsunade stepped out of the room, Kakashi stuffing his hands in his pocket, eyes trained on the hallway ahead of them, as Tsunade pulled her jacket around her tighter. The hallway was cold, chilly for even a hospital. She would have to talk to the nurses about that. Surprised that Kakashi was still meandering by her side and hadn't disappeared on her yet, Tsunade continued down the hallway turning to see if she could shake him off. Kakashi didn't turn off towards the exit, he stayed right by her.

"What?" She finally turned irritated hazel eyes upon him, glaring up at the taller man. If he had something to say he needed to outright say it.

"Can't a man wander the halls of a hospital with his hokage?" Kakashi asked her, grey eye brow quirked inquisitively at her. His Sharingan was exposed, nasty scar tissue puffy still after all this time. Of course from the records, the girl on his team had done this when they were chuunin. _Some scars don't fade_ Tsunade thought.

Kakashi smirked, his mouth cover pulling at the corners, his grey eye crinkling in amusement.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms. "You hate hospitals" She told him, in a no nonsense way. She was waiting for him to answer her first question.

"You and I both know that most of those men on her squad were loyal to Danzou." Kakashi told her giving her a knowing look.

Tsunade sighed. "Of course I knew. But then again I also thought that she could handle herself in the midst of it all. And then this" Her eyes dropped and her shoulders sagged. Kakashi got a glimpse of the weariness the old woman must be feeling at such news.

It was easy to forget how much Sakura meant to the old woman, the girl like a daughter to her in many ways. Kakashi stepped forward, but Tsunade's eyes narrowed and she glared at his raised hand raising her head at his step. She didn't want his pity. He stopped, hand dropping to his side with a sigh.

"Danzou will be out for blood this time" Kakashi told her as they stood there. "Whether she did it or not, twenty seven of his men are dead, and he will hold her personally responsible for it." He said resting his hand on the wall that she leaned on, halting her escape.

"I know" She said with a sigh looking away from him.

"He won't be stopped by clan politics, or side policies that you throw at him. Sakura will have to watch her own back from now on. He will try for her when she least expects it." Kakashi returned, eyes narrowing.

"Stop saying things as if I don't already know them" Tsunade growled. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask at her irritation, and removed his hand from the wall. They continued walking down the hall, her heels clicking against the floor.

"You have more to say" She offered, after all Kakashi wasn't the kind to stick around, particularly not at the hospital.

She was lucky if they could tie him in place when he was injured and only Sakura was able to keep him here. As much as Kakashi wanted to pretend he was distanced from the girl, it was him who was connected, who couldn't let go of old ties and old bonds and he often held the girl down in cases of promotions. He had fought her tooth and nail on promoting Sakura._ Poor man_, Tsunade thought, _They are all he has left._

"What if she was right?" Kakashi replied, running a gloved anbu hand through his ruffled silver hair, stopping again.

Kakashi had placed himself in anbu again when Sakura had passed the test, being accepted into the ranks. Sakura had been pleased at first having someone familiar with her going in. She had changed her mind later, when Kakashi had intervened in her mission to keep her from getting killed. Sai also entered as he was already a member of root and had secretly changed allegiances becoming a double was a great comfort for Sakura, but she became instantly suspicious after Kakashi had saved her. She felt it was a betrayal of trust, of comrades. For Kakashi it was protecting his teammates. Sakura's pride was hurt and he didn't care so long as she was alive. Anbu was merely convenient for keeping the remnant of team seven, his team together and giving him the ability to protect and deflect issues for Sakura in the Hokage's stead. Sakura was his responsibility...until Tsunade had promoted her. Tsunade thought the girl was ready for the world on her own. Kakashi had known better and told her so. She still made emotional decisions, still was unsure and unable to make the hard decisions in many cases. She was still so naïve though she'd grown up in so many ways.

"Don't tell me you actually think-" Tsunade began, eyes widening at his statement.

"All I'm saying is that I've never seen Sakura so shaken before. Restlessness aside, she looked as if she'd really seen a ghost." Kakashi replied, shoving his hands in his pockets again.

"Ghost stories are simply that, Kakashi. Ghost stories." Tsunade replied.

Kakashi eyed her, waiting for further explanation.

"The only man I knew that could bring back the dead was Orochimaru and Sasuke killed him long ago. And even then, it wasn't a true resurrection. They were merely animated corpses walking around the doing the bidding of their master. They had no free thought on their own, no soul to speak of." Tsunade told him.

"So there's no possible way Uchiha Itachi could be alive?" He asked, eyes searching her own.

"Why this doubt all of a sudden? You said it yourself that Itachi was consumed by Amaterasu a technique that literally decomposes anything in a matter of minutes, and Uchiha Madara even told you he was dead." Tsunade retorted, eyes piercing as they met his own.

Kakashi looked away.

"I just...Sakura is dramatic and emotional...but she isn't the kind to lie about this sort of thing" He told her, gray eyes distant as he mentally went through the conversation with Sakura again.

"So she's either crazy and hallucinating, or she's telling the truth or what she thinks is the truth. Forcing her situation into such categories. Chee" Tsunade replied.

'

Kakashi looked up startled by the sound.

"You're basing this off her character, Kakashi, not off of the facts. Sakura's not the only one making emotional decisions here." Tsunade replied, with her hands on her hips.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he stared at the floor. "Maybe she's telling the truth with her perception, but something else is or was going on." Kakashi replied."I don't know. I just have a bad feeling about all of this, and I know Sakura." _Probably better than anyone _He thought to himself.

"She isn't the kind to lie" He told her eyes meeting her own again.

"It's common to experience hallucinations when you have reached 36 hours of not sleeping. Sakura was at 40 when the incident occurred, Kakashi." Tsunade explained patiently. "Her vitals have all the signs and symptoms and I already glanced at her body chemical tests. She was more than likely imagining it. Maybe her body was blocking out the memory of her men dying by tying it with a memory linked to Sasuke. He did have a huge part to play in her life, much less her subconcious. There's also her mental evaluations to consider. There's a lot that we don't know. Too much to draw such unprovable illogical conclusions." Tsunade rebuked.

Kakashi's gaze darkened on the name, his fist clenching.

"As promised, I will keep you updated. There's been news on Sasuke's prowess. He's been wandering some time, but he's finally begun to surface in the underworld." Tsunade told him.

Kakashi's jaw clenched the veiled taunt from the Hokage cruel and sadistic. She was waving it in front of him like the proverbial carrot. "Tell me where."

"No." Tsunade's eyes were unyielding, resolute. "He threw his life away to become an avenger, I will not let you do the same."

"He killed Naruto- How can you sit here and do_ nothing_?" Kakashi snapped. This was the first time she'd heard him so angry. She knew he hadn't dealt with his emotions on Naruto's death. It seemed he was finally coming around to being angry about it. At least it was progress for him.

"Because I'm used to it." Tsunade replied, meeting his look without blinking. "Everyone around me dies. In that we are the same, Kakashi." Kakashi's eyes widened.

"Death is the price we pay for the lives we take, for the evil we deal to bring peace. The moment we try to balance our toll is the moment we fall. You and I both can't gamble here. Konoha needs you, and your services still and you _will_ obey me in this."

"There's nothing left for me here. If you wont tell me where he is I'll find him myself." Kakashi retorted, turning from her.

"Sakura needs you, though the girl won't admit it." Tsunade replied and Kakashi stiffened. "Would you abandon her so willingly for your revenge? Abandon your teammates again?" Tsunade told him, turning her back on him as she made her way down the hallway.

"How dare you. You don't know anything-" The part of Kakashi's face that was exposed was red as he turned his fingers leaking pops of chakra in his rage. Tsunade was pushing a subject that had been untouchable. It was little surprising that he was this angry. But pushing him over the edge of his control wouldn't help him.

"I've read the files" Tsunade replied.

"So you think you know." Kakashi retorted, tone dark. He laughed cynically before continuing "Then you must know that you're asking me to do it again, to sit and do nothing, to abandon my teammates and my loyalty to them by not letting me go."

"Isn't that what started Sasuke on the path to darkness, Hatake? What made him do what he did?" Tsunade asked him with weary hazel eyes. She turned, heels clicking down the hallway.

"He was like a son to you. How can you be so cold....so factual about it all? Like a surgery and someone dying, you medics are all the same, calloused about the facts, cruel and uncaring in the face of death" Kakashi snapped, yelling.

Tsunade froze, and turned, eyes narrowed as she strode back up to Kakashi rolling her sleaves up.

"Because I am responsible for the entire village, Kakashi" Tsunade told him and felt her throat tighten with tears. "If you think that when I heard that I didn't want to go out and find him and strangle him myself, to capture him and bring him back and have them pluck his eyes out and then let him rot in a prison- You have no idea-" She grabbed his white anbu vest, clenching the material in her fist.

Kakashi met her look dead on, unwavering and unafraid of this woman who could break every bone in his body and put them back together again.

"but I am the Hokage, and my grief, my tears, cannot be shed so necessarily, so easily in front of others. I cannot respond the way others can. So I am forced to hide them, and save them for a time and a place when I do not have to look out and be responsible for the lives of so many. But don't you dare be condescending to me for it. You have no idea what his death did, has done to me. No idea" She repeated fighting for a stronger tone as she felt her eyes swim with un shed tears. She blinked them away, releasing his vest, and walked, nearly faltering down the hall to her next surgery.

Kakashi felt like punching a hole in the wall, tearing down the hospital around his ears. He wanted to Raikiri the entire forest. He glared, disappearing with a swirl of leaves reappearing at the head of the Hokage statues. It was what he would have done, what he did when he couldn't go after Sasuke. He sat down on the head off the yondaime, burying his hands in his face.

"Ne Sensei... can you hear me beyond the dead?" Kakashi asked the wind, feeling his eyes fill with tears.

"Sumanai..... I let your son die." He said, mismatching eyes streaming as he curled, trembling.

* * *

When Sakura opened her eyes, she felt the tears. Nothing had changed. It hadn't been some awful dream with her waking up to a better reality. Reality had found her wanting. Her men were dead with the exception of two men that she had managed to save, though it had nearly taken her life to get them there. Danzo had attacked her loyalty whilst she was gone spreading dissension among the elders and causing problems for her master and those loyal to her. She had spent hours going over the details, over and over in her head until she couldn't remember it quite so clearly anymore. She had confessed to the two closest people she had left in her life what she had seen; that Uchiha Itachi was alive, that he had killed at least two of her closest most trusted men, and that he wanted to have further contact with her. The scariest moment of her life thus far....And they had written her off.

Worse than writing her off, they had assumed she was crazy, that she must have been hallucinating or stuck in some half rate genjutsu. It was devastating, a travesty that Sakura couldn't find words for. They didn't even try to believe her. But then again Sakura hadn't drawn her own blood to test that theory making her own thoughts, feelings and experiences invalid. Why had she forgotten the most basic of instructions? Her answer was her terror and complete awe and horror at seeing him, one Uchiha Itachi, alive. But had she seen him? Was it really him? Or had she imagined it, or been stuck in a genjutsu? Sakura didn't know anymore, the source of her anguish.

It seemed hazy now, having sifted through her memories over and over again but everything had been hazy when it had happened, kind of surreal, and she had been exhausted, pushed to the brink of the edge, physically, emotionally. She was second guessing everything she had seen. They had shaken her courage, the two people who had taught her it, built it, honed it and refined it. Sakura hung her head in her hands, grasping her pink strands with the crazy idea of ripping them out or scraping her nails into her skin. But that would only support their theory about her mental health and make her scalp bleed and her face sore. It wouldn't solve anything. She hadn't told them about the dreams. She was afraid to, to be honest, knowing their reaction, as she did now. They didn't believe she'd seen him, but of course who would, really? How could she have been so stupid? She shouldn't have trusted them in the first place until she had proof. Now they were questioning her sanity at the very least if not her loyalty. She couldn't tell them about the dreams or anything else. Not until she had proof.

Sakura winced, as she pulled the iv needle out of her arm. She'd been sloppy and ripped a part of her skin in her haste. She applied a small layer of healing chakra and wiped the blood off on her gown with a look of distaste. She stripped it off, throwing it on the uncomfortable hospital bed and went to check her things. Her pack lay on a chair beside her, her uniform had basically been un salvagable in their eyes or they had confiscated it. Sakura refused to think the later of the two. Sitting beside her pack was a new anbu uniform, but it hurt to look at. Her regular clothes sat on the chair beside it, her vest and shorts and medic skirt. She threw the shirt on over her head. Nurses had checked in periodically but other than that she had been alone and awake for several hours and her thoughts were killing her.

At full chakra, she had healed the extent of her wounds, and no further care could be provided by them. Hell, she did a better job of patching herself up, catching some key problems that would have caused complications in her healing if they had continued. She would remember to bring it up with the medical staff later. Right now she had simply had to get away. She would defect on the release paperwork, but it could be handled later. She couldn't bear her turmoiled thoughts and regrets any longer. She had been tormented by her thoughts. She felt dirty, both physically and mentally. She was still sticky from the sweat and blood and miscellaneous travel dirt she'd been carting on her skin for the past week.

All she wanted was a steaming hot shower and some time to process it all. Sakura slipped out the window, leaving her mask and uniform and weaponry behind.


	5. Miserable Uncertainty

AN: You asked for Itachi sama and who I am to deny? You'll also hopefully get some snippets at the plot that has been forming in my head all day but nothing definitive of course. I'm gonna draw this one out a bit, I think.

This was an extremely long update compared to previous chapters but this one was important.

And here is where I get on my soap box and vent my frustration: I have about 1,500 hits and about 12 reviews. Seriously people? That's less than 1 review per 100 hits. Type. A. Freaking. Sentence. People. yargh.

Okay. That moment is done. Thank you for bearing with me.

Movie of the update: ironically enough, corpse bride. Yaeee Tim Burton.

_"Education is the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty" -Mark Twain-_

Steam rose as Sakura leaned against the shower, resting her head on the cool tile to soothe her flushed skin as burning hot water beat down her back. It trickled from her hair onto her face and down the front of her body. She stood in her glass box, breathing in the steam. It washed over her, spraying, hard and fast; scalding to the touch. It felt so good after living in he field for the past month. It loosened the muscles in her back and shoulders, tense for months now, and beat the dust and grime off her skin. She could feel and see the dirt and blood dripping down her, washing away at the contact. She breathed a shuttering sigh of relief, grateful for the illusion of cleanliness. She would probably never get the dirty feeling of their deaths off her soul, but at least she could get the blood, dirt and grime off her body and that was enough for now, to help her get to sleep at night.

She closed her eyes, water logged as it fell down her lashes, as she soaked in the spray. There was peace in the expanse of black behind her closed eyes. _If I can't see you, then you can't see me_. The words had never brought this much peace; this relief. She had never longed for naivety more than she did now. She rested her head against the tile again, reveling in the feel of cold across her forehead, the relief it brought her feverish skin turning redder at the temperature. The steam rose, and it was stifling in that moment. Sakura coughed. Eyes still closed she tried to think of nothing and failed. Blood red Sharingan stared back at the black depths of her closed eyes, eyelashes fluttering and she gasped, startled as she stepped backwards, her eyes flying open as she turned, expecting him to be here. She trembled, equipping herself as she did so, razor in her hand as she scanned for chakra signatures, for his chakra signature. Sakura gasped breathe ragged as she shakily looked around. Nothing. No one. Sakura was being haunted by her own active imagination. Fuck.

"Gods...I'm jumping at my own shadow" She laughed shakily aloud, running a hand through her damp hair. Only the sound of the water hitting the floor of the glass box answered her.

She took a deep cleansing breathe and shut off the shower, setting down the razor, shaking her head at her foolishness. She was clean enough for now. She opened the glass door, stepping out into the tiled bathroom. Her floor was cold. Grabbing her towel and wrapping it around her, She blinked. The lights above her flickered. Jade eyes wide, she grabbed for her kunai pouch that lay on the counter, two kunai in both hands as she eyed the room, breathe hitched. She secured her towel, and scanned the area again, kunai tight in her hands as she stepped forward.

It could only be him. There was no one else who would be looking for her.

She let the door fly open to her bathroom, leading out into her bedroom. She crouched low, expecting an attack as she searched for him. No, he wouldn't attack her at her weakest moment. He would attack her face to face, without the need for illusion or deception because it would be beneath him to take her life in a less honorable way. Funny how she was thinking about his honor in regards to her life.

Jade eyes pierced the darkness. She could smell the candle she had burning, the cinnamon scent pervading, wafting in the room. Rising to her feet, she stepped forward into the room. The room was sterile, completely clean and spotless as she had left it, before her mission. The only thing left was the dust on her dresser, but the particles were in the air, moving. She frowned considering the movement. She scanned the corners, her window drapes flowing with the breeze that she had left open. Stupid. She might as well left her door open and invited all of Konoha to come in. She made her way towards her bedroom door. Taking a deep breathe, she exhaled, and with a grim smile launched her kunai into the drapes without turning.

A gurgled cry of pain was her reply and Sakura turned making her way over as her target fell, jutsu disappearing. Surprise was the expression on her face, though if it had been him it would have been too easy. Anbu uniform, no mask present. Root anbu to be exact. Danzou must have sent him. It was clever of him to use a jutsu to conceal himself, but he forgot that she was an expert at chakra control. Of course she would be able to tell if he was using such a thing in her room of all places, and the dust particles moving suggested someone's presence and inspection at her things. Aside from that the chakra residue left in the air was simply unmistakeable. Plus staying by the open window was obvious with the lighting. No illusion was ever complete thus the need for the drapes. Danzou's men were less trained than he let on. There was hope yet.

"I suppose asking who sent you would be pointless." Sakura told him as blood squirted down his neck onto her carpet.

Damn, she would have to get tile in her bedroom too at this rate with the amount of attacks that took place here. She kept her hand on his neck, staunching the flow of blood and keeping him alive as she placed a portion of chakra, temporarily barring the way of his life blood's escape.

"But if you don't tell me why he sent you, then I'll let you bleed out." Sakura said, green eyes lifeless as she spoke those haunting words.

Medics were supposed to heal. Medics were supposed to save lives. But Sakura had crossed that bridge long before now, had taken far more lives than she had saved. She was as grey as anyone else now, and she knew when she could offer mercy. Danzou's men didn't expect it, and Sakura couldn't offer it to trash like him.

"Damn you-Ugh" The man gurgled and hit the floor, his life's blood pooling, staining her carpet, as Sakura turned from him, allowing him to bleed out. He reached out trembling hands, possibly suggesting a change of heart, but it was too late.

"Suit yourself" She told him not even turning, pressing on.

Root anbu never came alone. She eyed her towel. She would need more covering to move like she needed to then. She went to her closet, stepping into pants, one kunai still in her hand. She reached for her shirt, pulling the turtle neck over her head. The fabric settled on her stomach as she heard the footstep. Sakura sighed.

"I had thought you'd give me more time to dress" She said, eyes on her closet in front of her waiting to release her traps. And then she heard another choked gurgle as the man hit the floor.

"I was handling it-" She said irritably, turning, expecting Sai or Kakashi, and stopped as she saw who it was.

Red clouds with black, blacker than the stains of his soul met her apple green eyes. The silk satin material gleamed in the caught rays of the moonlight. Sakura stared in horror, as red sharingan met her look and Sakura tripped, stumbling back and barely catching her footing as she eyed him.

"If you knew he was there, then you must have missed the other five waiting to ambush you." Itachi rebuked. "Careless, sloppy" He critiqued eying the man on the floor.

Sakura's eyes narrowed. She asked the only question that burned and was rooted in every other question she wanted to ask this man. "Why?"

_Why save me? Why kill these men on the floor? Why protect me? Why did you save my life before?_

"Because I need you alive." Itachi replied simply. "I should think that would be obvious. I wouldn't trouble myself, if I didn't" He told her sharply, eyes taking in everything. He could see her traps without a doubt, and he found the release for it, pressing the portion of the wall.

Sakura's mind scrambled with a game plan, but genjutsu was useless on him, and his sharingan. Her traps were no where near what they needed to be to trap a man like him and he could see through them and anything she could throw at him. The best she could hope for was to stall for time. Others would come. Kakashi or Sai, if they found out about the ambush. If they thought to check on her.

"Whatever sick maniacal plan you have for me, you can't count me out. I'm not going to help you." Sakura told him firmly, attaching any weaponry she could to her being.

Her closet held quite the arsenal. She wasn't about to be manipulated by a man that was supposed to be dead. And worse cased scenario, she would hold her own till help arrived.

"On the contrary, I wont need to bend you to my 'sick maniacal plan' because you and I want the same thing." Itachi told her.

"You want world domination, to overthrow the entire ninja world, to bring peace through more bloodshed." Sakura told him flatly. "You hate everything I stand for and vice versa" Sakura added derisively.

"That is what Akatsuki wanted. Assuming you know any thing about my agenda is dangerous business, Sakura" Itachi retorted, staring down at her haughtily.

"Don't tell me being dead made you see the light" Sakura sneered.

"More than you know" Itachi muttered.

"What was that?" Sakura asked, not hearing his muttered answer.

"It is meaningless to fight like this, Sakura" He told her, eying her, his arms at his sides, his hands empty as he stepped over the body of the root anbu coming closer.

"Don't talk to me like you know me. How do you even know my name?" Sakura asked, hand clenching the kunai and lifting it.

Itachi sighed, irritation clear on his pale face.

"Try to be less pretentious and realize that I have seen you before in the clearing with Kyuubi and Hatake when you were still a child. You are not only my brother's teammate but also the hokage's apprentice a claim to fame in and of itself." Itachi said.

"Dont-" Sakura began, but those red eyes silenced her with their look.

"You are an anbu captain with eyesore pink hair and green eyes making you recognizably clear in a crowd of at least two hundred thousand or more." Itachi continued as if she hadn't interrupted.

"But-" Sakura scowled but he didn't even acknowledge her retort.

"Furthermore, You are listed in the bingo books, with a hefty price on your head and wanted in the underworld for more, because of Danzou's most recent loss to his squad. Of course I would know you." He explained as one explains to a child. "You are someone worthy of notice."

If Sakura wasn't having a conversation with a dead man that happened to nearly succeed in culling his entire clan, joining an s class organization hell bent on the destruction of the way of the ninja and everything she stood for, and hadn't killed her men, she might have been flattered. It certainly would have been the nicest thing anyone with his sort of rank had given her.

"Flattery will get you no where with me. And I didn't kill those men. You did" Sakura told him, eyes narrowed.

"Technically it was a joint effort. By your carelessness with your mission, you forced me to reveal my hand, and put my plans into motion before I was ready to act."

Sakura choked. Arrogant son of a-

"But surprise is always best as itself, so I worked it in favor of what needs to be accomplished." Itachi told her, stepping back towards her door. Sakura glared, and stepped out of her closet, firm hold on her kunai.

"What do you mean?" Sakura retorted.

"What sort of anbu captain takes their entire squad out to enemy territory on a hunch?" Itachi retorted, changing the subject, his tone scolding as he regarded her with arms folded.

"It wasn't a hunch!" Sakura yelled, at once defensive, her fists clenched. "It was information from a reliable source that we had used in the past and we had to investigate! I didn't know it would be an ambush, but if we hadn't gone forward, we would have lost the time-"

"You should have verified your informants source before acting. Had you demanded it, you would have realized the truth for yourself. Instead your men paid the price for your foolish mistakes and you stepped over standard protocol. You were too eager for the information and sacrificed caution on behalf of it. It worked in my favor, however, as I was able to destroy Danzou's squad and get his attention through you."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura gasped.

"Try to keep up, Sakura. Though I should give you credit, you were working through your men and you trusted their decisions but you placed your faith in the wrong people. Taisuki and Kimoto were Danzou's operatives and they did their job well. He sent them to spy on you, to gain your trust, and lead you into the trap with the kumo ninja." He told her.

"Meaning" Sakura asked, numb from the information.

"You were supposed to die by kumo's hands, Sakure" Itachi told her. "His men would return alive and alone to tell the tale, eliminating one more enemy from his tally because of those men's abounding loyalty to their taishou. He was quite shocked when the opposite of his plans happened, but then again, he doesn't know about me. Surprise, as I said, works best when it is just that." Itachi said, tone dark.

"If you are Uchiha Itachi, then tell me how the hell are you still alive?" Sakura snapped.

"No." Itachi replied. "keeping that from you is the only assurance I have of keeping you in line" He stated.

"You cant keep me in line when I haven't committed to your agenda in the first place. And if you refuse to tell me, then how do you expect me to trust you?" Sakura snapped.

Something between a smirk and a sneer graced across his face, the shadows playing up his narrowed eyes. He was darkly amused by her attitude. Sakura swallowed, hard.

"I don't require your trust, Sakura. I require your cooperation in a joint venture that has an end we both would like to see eliminated." Itachi retorted.

"I don't give trust to gain it" Sakura replied. "No idiot would"

"And yet you gave it freely to men who were your enemies without your knowledge. Your kindness and compassionate nature will get you, and the rest of the people who follow you killed, Sakura." Itachi replied metaphorically hitting her where it would hurt most. He didn't need to fight Sakura to inflict pain, but then again Hhe didn't need her broken, either. Merely disillusioned, cooperative, and less naïve than her current state of affairs.

Sakura slashed the kunai down her arm, and Itachi watched her, unblinking as the blood ran down her arm and onto the carpet of her closet. He sighed, visibly disappointed.

"Are you done with these games yet?" Itachi asked her.

"You're the one playing games here" Sakura retorted.

"While it may be a game, it's doesn't make my objectives any less rational, or the need any less real" Itachi replied.

"You're not him. I wouldn't believe it for a second. He's dead" Sakura retorted, shaking.

"You still don't believe I'm who I say I am. If you really doubt me, then come, touch me, if you dare" Itachi tossed his words at her. The challenge hung in the air between them.

"That's what you want, is for me to buy into this. To think that I can see for myself. I can't see anything, Itachi that you aren't manipulating, if you're even him."

"If you doubt that I am who I say I am, then why are you calling me by my name?" Itachi asked her, lilting tenor caressing her with it's silky tone.

"Because I don't know who you are and how you're doing this, but when I do I'm going to-" Sakura began.

"Words. That's all they are when it comes to you. You're being paranoid and childish at this point and you're wasting valuable time. I give you my word, that I will nor harm you, if you touch me"

"As if I would fall for that. I can't trust you, remember? So why would I believe your word" Sakura retorted.

"Ah, but you'll never know till you try, and you will never be able to prove my existence to the Hokage and Hatake, if you don't." Itachi told her.

Sakura paled, jade eyes wide with terror.

"How do you know about that?" She asked, startled by how much he knew. There was no one in that room when they had that conversation. Absolutely no one. No one, unless they were above kage level could have heard that conversation.

"It's enough that I know it, Sakura." Itachi replied.

"It will never be enough. You had better start explaining or I'll-"

"You'll what?" Itachi said, stalking forward. Sakura felt her breathe hitch. She had no where to go and he kept coming closer.

"S-stay back" She held up her kunai cursing herself for her wretched tone.

"_Or what?_" He whispered, sultry voice drawing her, making her hand shake. He grabbed her wrist, plucking the kunai from her hand. Sakura gasped, his other hand holding her wrist captive.

He ran his finger along her wrist, feeling the delicate hairs along her skin.

"H-how is that possible?" She gasped, flabbergasted by the warm sensations bubbling beneath his calloused finger. The intoxicating smell of sandalwood invaded her senses and Sakura found herself drowning in ruby Sharingan, half mast, sooty black lashes sheathing them as he blinked.

"Because I am alive, curious beautiful little Sakura. And not everything can be explained by your faulty assumptions" He told her, drawing even closer. Sakura tensed, frozen as she felt those cool thin lips, brush sensually across her own. Her eyes blinked for a second, lashes tickling her cheek and she felt the air move around her. Opening her eyes from blinking she realized he was gone. Gasping, she opened her eyes, bringing trembling fingers to her lips. They were still wet, moist from where his mouth had carresed her. She had felt those calloused fingers on her skin.

She heard the door downstairs open, and she felt the familiar chakra signatures down stairs. Kakashi, Sai.

"Sakura?" Kakashi yelled from downstairs.

She sprinted, to the door, taking the stairs in three as she slammed against Kakashi's body, trembling as she fought her sobs.

Kakashi felt the impact, stumbling, but managing to keep them both upright as he exchanged shaky glances with Sai, and Yamato.

"Sakura?" Kakashi asked her delicately, trying to find a way to pry her face from his tear stained shoulder, so that he could look at her, know what on earth was going on. He had seen the downed men, known that they were dead before he'd entered. Sakura wasn't this emotional though. What had happened on the mission to make her break like this? Had these men done anything to her? Fierce red light shot through him and he held her tighter, jaw clenched as she sniffled, wiping her face on her elbow looking up at him with fractured crystal green eyes.

"Sakura Hag, did they hurt you?" Sai asked her with his blank expression, though his eyebrows moved, furrowed a fraction, to express his concern.

Sakura shook her head, a nervous laugh bubbling in her throat as she stepped away, and out of Kakashi's arms and reach.

"Sakura?" Yamato asked, frowning.

"Er- No. No, nothing happened. They didn't hurt me. Just surprised me. I was in the shower-" She explained, running her hands through her still damp locks.

"And one bled all over my floor upstairs."

"Ah." Sai nodded. "We came as soon as we could. Whether I am suspected or not is unclear as of this point." He reported.

Kakashi stared hard at the damp pinkette, grey eye trained on her. She was avoiding looking at him, specifically at his Sharingan, or perhaps his scar. Kakashi's frown deepened.

"I'm alright. Thank you for checking on me." Sakura told them, smiling though it didn't reach her eyes.

It was real enough that Sai said nothing. "We will dispose of the bodies for you. That will buy you some time" He told her, and Yamato followed him as they disappeared upstairs.

"Some time?" Sakura frowned, but they were gone, leaving her alone with Kakashi.

He said nothing, trying to catch her eye and failing as Sakura stared at her feet, the blush of her embarrassment and mortification at her own weakness, and the fact that she once again felt like the student, and he the teacher with a lecture waiting. She was avoiding him, and that impending doom at all costs.

"Funny." Kakashi said, breaking the silence first, and those green eyes shot up, startled that he was actually initiating something between them for once.

"If you were in the shower, Sakura, then what on earth were 5 dead men doing down here in your living room, with their throats slit. It was a clean kill, I'll give that much, but there's either something you're not telling me, or you should start explaining why you started in the shower, killed the two upstairs and then came down to finish the job, only to retreat to your room, a terrible place for defending in the first place." Kakashi told her, eyes hard as they took in her surprise.

And then her anger. "I don't have to explain myself to you, Kakashi" She snapped.

Kakashi stepped forward, boxing her in, as she retreated, stepping back into the wall, his arms caging her on either side.

"I think you do." He told her, eyes serious as they stared her down.

"I'm not afraid of you." She retorted.

"I think you are, or you wouldn't be lying. At the very least you're afraid of my reaction" He told her softly, hand reaching up to tuck a stray wet rossette strand behind her ear. Sakura flinched, stepping away from his touch and into his other arm.

"If nothing happened why are you this skiddish?" Kakashi retorted, eyes narrowing.

Sakura said nothing, cheeks flaming as she stared at the ground, crossing her arms across her chest, a look Kakashi was well familiar with. If she was digging in her heels, then something had happened.

"Why won't you trust me?" He asked her whispering the words in her ear.

"I-" Sakura struggled on the words, the desperation to talk, to share, to explain that a mass murdering S class criminal, for reasons unbeknowest and completely unfathomable to her, wanted her, in a more than just for her abilities kind of way. But he didn't believe her before, and Sakura had no hard proof that he lived, that it was really him. Damn him for distracting her. She should have gotten a blood sample while he was that close.

"Nothing happened, Kakashi sempai" The endearment slipping from her lips. "I-I'm just shook up from everything that happened." Sakura didn't have to fake the tremble or the tears that fell. She felt the sobs building within her throat and so she let them out, sobbing as she thought of the lives lost, of the betrayal she felt at the two men she had trusted her life to. She didn't doubt Itachi's words, didn't need to, as they had been too perfect, too good, and too able to help her. She should have known better. Damn it.

Kakashi brought her into his arms, holding her gently, as she beat her fist against his chest, angry, so angry because she'd been so hurt by their betrayal. He stroked the wet rosette tresses, kissing her forehead tenderly as he held her. She smelled like spring and strawberries, her shampoo drifting in his heightened senses.

"It's alright, Sakura chan" He said, the term affectionately slipping, only making the girl clutch his anbu vest, crying harder. He winced, the term painful for the both of them as his arms wrapped tighter around her, wishing he could protect her. He couldn't. He never could when it came to his teammates and theirin lay his real curse, his tragedy. But for now. For now he let her cry out her grief.

It was sometime later, that her tears abated. She simply stopped crying, scrubbing her eyes swallowing as she looked up at him with bleary red, green eyes.

"The hokage needs to see you. Things have escalated." Kakashi told her

"What does that mean?" Sakura asked, tone as helpless as she felt in that moment.

"I don't know" Kakashi replied.

"Is that so?" Sakura asked, tone so small and weak that he almost wondered if he had heard it. Her forehead crashed against his collarbone, and he felt the wetness, as her fingers clenched into the material of his anbu shirt.

"I have no need to lie to you, Sakura." Kakashi told her sadly, hands beneath her chin forcing her to look up at him.

"That hasn't stopped you before" She retorted, angrily.

"It was for your protection-"

"Spare me" Sakura replied, turning from him.

Kakashi stood, shocked that she had turned from him, that she felt that way about him.

"Sakura?" He asked, scared of her coldness, or this way she was being with him. Call it arrogant, but she had never done this, had never shut him out before.

"Just-just leave me alone." Sakura stammered, hanging her head.

Kakashi stood there, waiting, hoping she would turn back around. She didn't. He sighed. Running a hand through ruffled silver hair, he turned himself, stopping at her front door.

"Hokage's office, fifteen minutes" He told her, vanishing in a swirl of leaves.


	6. The willful slaughter

AN: not even sure if I have a plot at this moment. Wow that's kind of scary for me to type completely unhinged without any direction. But we're gonna try it anyways and see what happens. Really long update as I decided to add a new character into the mix and this continues to get darker and deeper than even I can conceivably fix. Omiyate Ratsu is a made up of mine and if you want to use him you should ask or come up with your own bad guy.

Music of the Update: "Uninvited" Alanis Morisette and a lot of Crossfade. Most of their songs remind me of Itachi sama

_ "One should die rather than be betrayed. There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what is promised. Betrayal though is the willful slaughter of hope." -Steven Deltz-_

The tension was in the air, tangible and thick as the fog that rolled in. Sakura could practically taste it. She shivered in the night, the stretchy material of her turtleneck and gloves not thick enough to keep off the chill that was coming in faster than anyone anticipated. This cold front had come in from out of nowhere and she knew in her bones that it was going to rain. Ignoring the strange feeling, she made her way all the quicker into the Hokage tower, slipping in through the window. The night was cold, colder than most and she wondered if it would snow, given the clouds moving in overtaking the very stars themselves. She nimbly climbed her way up the tower, leaping from post to post. The anbu on guard merely tipped their heads to her in acknowledgment.

Inside her office, the remnant of team seven sat, a hollow echo of their former glory, a glory that now seemed marred and faded, thread bare to start with when she really looked at their original picture. Her shishou was in her chair, behind her enormous desk, her hands folded, her chin resting on them as she regarded her with those hazel eyes of hers. They were all sitting waiting for her and it made Sakura self concious in the moment. She looked over her shoulder, shutting the window behind her to avoid them seeing her pink cheeks. She grit her teeth. Tonight was the last night the moon would light her path, the cycle returning to slivers and fractions of what it had been. Sakura felt the crooked sneer tug at the corners of her mouth. After all, she could relate.

"Is the room secure?" She asked, feeling a shiver from the cold and her mind couldn't help itself, thinking of the man she had talked to not a half hour before, the man that had pressed his cool chapped lips against hers. The man that was supposed to be dead. She fought the flinch and avoided the tingle she felt on her lips, ignoring the sensations passing through her at such a disturbing thought.

"Of course" Yamato replied with a frown, the fact obvious. It was the hokage's office after all.

Sakura's look suggested otherwise, but she didn't offer anything else, as she made her way into the chair, noting how they all were looking at her still. She sunk deeper in the chair than she probably needed to, fingers clasping the arm wrests, wishing she could just disappear. Why did they always stare at her like that? Why did they always assume they knew so much about her?

"Now that we're all here." Kakashi prompted, looking to Tsunade who ignored her cue.

"Shishou?" Sakura finally asked, jade eyes looking into her own. Avoiding this was only wasting more time and Sakura had a sinking suspicion that time was all that mattered right now. She was tired, edgy and didn't want to dance around the subject any longer.

"Danzou is out for your blood this time." She said finally with a heavy sigh, taking a sip of sake.

Sakura snorted laughing, deep and hearty, but stopped when she realized that no one else was laughing. No, they were all avoiding her gaze.

"This time. You act like it's new information" Kakashi retorted, arms folded as his eyes narrowed.

Sakura frowned. So he had been keeping something from her, some conversation that Tsunade and he had before coming to see her. Damn it. She hated it when they went over her head like this. They still treated her like a goddamn geinin. Like she wouldn't; couldn't understand what they were doing or talking about. Whatever they had discussed, it was clear that they disagreed on the way to go about it. Sakura felt the pit of her stomach drop.

"Shishou, he's right. This is nothing new" Sakura replied, eying her with a hard swallow.

"Yes, but this time he's changing his priorities. Apparently he wants to make sure this loose end gets tied up." Tsunade replied tone hard.

"How do you know this information?" Sakura asked her.

"Because Danzou has made no attempt to hide it this time from his subordinates." Tsunade replied. "Which means he's serious about this. He's completely unconcerned about who knows it"

"We can't risk your safety, Sakura san" Yamato told her.

Sakura looked to Sai the question in her gaze.

"Its true. You're the newest target, Sakura hag." Sai told her. "Actually it's my team assigned next to take you out next. From what I understand given the information, its to test my loyalty if I'm correct." He told her, face blank.

"You're going to leave" Tsunade told her.

Sakura's eyes widened and her breath hitched in her throat. No. This couldn't be happening. She had just gotten back from a mission that had nearly killed her. She hadn't even been here long enough to enjoy it. She had given everything she had just to return. Konoha was her home, their home when he had been alive. Everything she had was here. _He_ was buried here. She had known nothing else but this, here. Everything; her friends, her family. Every significant portion of her life had been founded in Konoha. And all that was left of her heart, were standing here in this room.

"No" She protested, standing. "I will not leave. Everything I have is here." Sakura replied, echoing her thoughts.

"Sakura, he's gone" Kakashi told her, grey eyes sympathetic, echoing the pain she felt but didn't want to share. Selfish, always so selfish, Sakura turned from it, from him.

"Anything I have is here. If I leave, it means he wins. He gets exactly what he wanted, which is me out of the picture." Sakura snapped, angry because it still hurt. Because she couldn't seem to bury it deep enough to make it disappear completely.

"Sakura, we don't have the man power to protect you" Yamato told her bluntly.

"I never asked for protection" Sakura snarled fist clenching. "From any of you. I'm an anbu captain and damn it, you all have been treating me like I'm some lightweight chuunin for years." She accused, glaring at each and every one of them. "The only one of us who _ever_ believed in me, really believed in my strength, is dead." She choked.

"You never had to ask for our protection, Sakura." Sai told her.

"We gave it freely." Kakashi told her, eyes filled with some unnamed emotion, something she'd never seen on his face before.

_You're worth protecting._ It stung, the unspoken words he would never say to her.

"Damn you all for it. I never wanted it. I'm not supposed to be this weak. Did you ever stop to think that if maybe you hadn't sheltered me so god damn much, he would still be here. Maybe I would have had the strength to stop him." Sakura said, eying all of them.

"And maybe that's why he's dead" Tsunade's voice quieted all others.

Sakura turned disbelieving jade eyes to her shishou, but she only continued as if she didn't see her expression.

"You're being delusional, Sakura. He's dead. You can't blame us for that. He believed in your strength, but your biggest crux has always been your interdependence on others and maybe he had to go for you to finally wake up and realize it. But you haven't. I'm telling you truthfully when I say that we can no longer protect you. He can no longer protect you." Tsunade said harshly.

"How dare you" Sakura muttered, the tears streaming down her cheeks. "You, who knew me best of all, and you shove my face in what I learned the day he died. _How dare you_!"

"And it is precisely because of that, that I'm the only one who can tell you all of this now. If you stay, Danzou will show no remorse. He will bring your friends into this fight, hold them against you." Tsunade told her, tone sharp and piercing.

Sakura's eyes narrowed.

"Your family, all who you have left, all whom you hold dear will be entered into this fight as well. And the cost is more than you can possibly bear, Sakura. If you defect, it's true he will get what he wants, but he will be honorable enough to spare your loved ones as well and that in and of itself is a victory." Tsunade told her.

"You're asking me to run away, but you underestimate my strength, their strength. You always have" Sakura replied, though her conviction was wavering.

"Danzou has nothing he holds dear, Sakura, except the title of Hokage. His men and everything around him are disposable, usable only so long as they prove their worth. You, on the other hand, have everything to loose, because as you said, everything is here. The only way you walk out of this unscathed is to leave. Can you tell me that you would risk Ino's life, or the life of her unborn child for this?" Tsunade told her.

It was clear from Kakashi's clenched jaw that he disagreed on the subject matter at hand. But not enough to say anything about it, to do anything about it. Kakashi cared for her, but it was never enough was it?

"You can't make me leave" Sakura said, voice quiet but unwavering in her conviction.

"The hell I can't. I'm the Hokage and the paperwork has already been submitted." Tsunade replied the folder hitting the table. The papers fell to the ground, taking Sakura's heart with them. They fluttered, finally revealing themselves for what they were.

Kakashi's eye widened, even Sai gave a startled glance.

"Get out of here Sakura, or they will have legitimate reasons to arrest you now." Tsunade told her.

Kakashi's eye widened as he read the bold words of the file as it fell to the floor, pages hitting the ground with a finality that seemed surreal. But this was real, the words the hokage spoke were real and he could no longer deny the reality of their situation. Sakura was being charged with treason, the murder of her men. This reality, a world of illusions and deceit was all they had left. No matter how hard they worked, they were fighting a loosing battle and things were as dark as she had said. Yamato and even Sai had wide eyes at the paperwork. These were grounds of her betrayal, that she had indeed done as Danzou had accused her and a warrant for her arrest.

Sakura's eyes were haunted, the look of betrayal etched so deeply on her face that it seemed to sink into her features. She was pale and wane and suddenly Kakashi had the eerie feeling of deja vu. had seen this look before...but he couldn't remember. He looked back into her eyes and Then he knew why. He knew and it ripped him, tore him to pieces on the inside. This was the look she had worn when she looked at Sasuke. After he had killed Naruto. When her hands had been stained with the blood of the hole he'd put in his chest, the hole she would never be able to fill, the hole he had put in her chest at his death. The look Rin had, when he had promised to protect her and he had failed. Shaken, she vanished out the window, running fast and hard.

Kakashi stared after her retreating figure, hand in his silver hair, wondering how it had come to this.

"What right did you have to do _that _to her?" He snapped, angry at Tsunade.

"Leave us" She ordered to Yamato. Sai had already disappeared from the room.

Yamato gave her a mistrusting look, but did as he was told, vanishing with swirl of leaves.

"Tell me who gave you the damn right to wrongly accuse her, and kick her out of the only home she's ever known." Kakashi said, arms crossed as he glared at the woman.

"That girl means more to me than she ever did to you and we both know it. We're fighting a loosing battle here and you know that as well. Would you do any more, any less for a daughter?" Tsunade replied.

"You call that love? You are letting her think you betrayed her to Danzou" Kakashi accused. "I call it a lack of faith, a lack of trust. You betrayed anything you taught her." He said.

"I don't want her here when this falls. And it _will_ fall. This was the only way she would go. Danzou will not spare her, he'll kill her to keep her from usurping him. Sand has cut ties with Konoha because of Danzou's interference, so we can expect no help from Gaara, though he might harbor our people if we flee to him." Tsunade told him.

"You lack faith in our people now too?" Kakashi replied.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed and she slammed her hand down on her desk, opening the casualty reports.

"Our people are dying! We are on the brink of civil war that hasn't broken out yet because it's stayed on the surface of the underworld, but we cannot count on that any longer with Danzou's declaration. He will make Sakura an example of what happens when we oppose him. And he will win because he _is_ winning this war so stop pretending like we have a chance. You can't be him and you never will be!" Tsunade snarled.

Kakashi flinched, the pain he bore, the pain he always bore at his teammates death cut deep. He couldn't be Naruto and it had been painful trying. Tsunade sighed. There was no point in apologizing because the damage was already done, had been dealt a long time ago.

"Because I am Hokage, I am allowed this only selfish wish. This desire to protect what I have loved most apart from my country and the dead. He would have done this himself, were he alive. I have given and given and given until there is simply no more to give. I haven't the blood, sweat, or tears, pr family members left that haven't run dry for Konoha, so don't you dare judge, or condescend me! I will do one last thing to protect the ones I love." Tsunade snapped.

Kakashi shook his head, and jumped out the window.

* * *

Danzou smirked from root headquarters. He settled into his chair, his top anbu next to him as he imagined as he did every night the feel of the hokage chair beneath him. It was physically impossible for any of his root members to betray him and he knew his system better than anyone living so he had no reason to be unassured. No, he had every reason to be confident. Victory was practically at hand and it was oh so sweet. He was secure in his position of power and he had been slowly but surely infiltrating and turning the counsel against the Hokage, usurping her slowly one person at a time. And now he was winning. It was only a matter of time. He would press his advantage.

"It is time to seize control of Konoha. It has grown weak, lost the flame that has characterized our village. No longer will we simply allow things to come to pass. We will change the future with our hands, and so save us all." He announced throwing his torch into their bonfire.

Root anbu echoed his enthusiasm, their cries resounding off the halls of their root headquarters.

Omiyate Ratsu grinned, sharp canines biting into his lip, purple eyes gleaming eagerly as he tasted his own blood. Salivating, he watched the spittle hit the floor. Large, muscled, but hunched over his large weapon he stared into the fire Danzou had started. Midnight black hair choppy and messy framed his face, and hung over his shoulder in a long mane. Dark black stained beneath those amethyst orbs that crackled, hungry for malevolence with the fire reflecting there. He gripped his large jagged blade attached to his arm, almost imagining her flesh being torn asunder by it. Danzou had awarded him for his successes and he would be the first to taste her blood. Eagerly, he clenched his fists.

Danzou's wandering eye did not miss his bloody anticipation. Ratsu wasn't all there upstairs but he did his job well. Sometimes too well. Disturbing reports had flooded in on his performances on missions, but he was an effective killer, and could be controlled when neccessary. Ratsu took orders and followed them, no matter what. Danzou needed that sort of man. He would kill Ratsu later himself if need be. For now he was useful in promoting fear and wreaking havoc on the enemies moral, and Danzou would use that to his best advantage. After all the other side still had sympathies, loyalties based on emotion. Ratsu had none other than Danzou. Unlike the other protegies he had responded almost too well to the training, a delinquent himself in his former life, and now entirely devoted to his cause. Now he lived for battle, took every order, and completed every mission, regardless of personal circumstance, though the way he did it often gave his other root members nightmares. Well no matter. A bit more fear did wonders in the field.

"Ratsu. Take your squad. Bring evidence of her body back. Other than that, I do not care what you do" Danzou told him.

"Permission to form a team" Ratsu rasped a wicked grin from ear to ear.

"Granted. Dismissed." Danzou replied.

Ratsu's grin was purely maniacal. A single hand issued the order, and they turned, making for the entrance. Ratsu came shoulder to shoulder with the quiet ink user.

"This time, Paint boy, you're coming with me, and you're gonna stick around to watch. She's slipped past you or through you too many times to be coincidence. You're gonna prove to me your worth, tonight or I'll let Danzou do with you what he will. I want to see her blood on your hands." He told him.

Sai blinked, considering the taller ninja.

Ratsu met his look with a crooked grin full of pointy teeth, that he had un-doubtably sharpened himself.

"Affirmative" Sai blankly nodded.

* * *

Sakura had never had such problems expressing her real feelings. Then again Sakura had always had Naruto to pummel and expel some of the stress. Naruto was dead. Now the trees bore the weight of her wrath, crashing as Sakura screamed her fury to the skies. She slammed her fist, already scraping her bare skin deep into the muscle, into the tree. It exploded through the tree leaving a hole, and she ripped it up from it's very roots, the hole in it's heart not enough for her. It needed to feel her pain, she thought as she threw it into another set of trees, causing significant damage.

She already had everything with her that she could or really would want. She'd been on enough long distance missions to have sorted out what was truly important and what she could replace with a few decent ninja missions. The things she treasured most she carried on her person. She carried his picture with her, along with all the team seven photos. Those pictures hurt to look at but she treasured them nonetheless. She already had her weapons, and anything she needed to carry with her for missions. She kept other things of significance in summoning scrolls so that way she would never loose them unless someone took them from her dead corpse and if that was the case they probably deserved it.

Sakura felt hollow, numb, empty. It should have felt different. There should have been something more, at least something more than this. She was leaving everything she'd ever loved and known. Shouldn't there be tears? Remorse? Something, anything better than this empty feeling threatening to consume her lest she fall over it's ledge into the dark chasm of her own soul.

This dense pain was sitting and heavy, weighing her down body and soul and she couldn't feel it enough to react with emotion. How long could she carry such a burden? Such a strain? Forever, her treacherous concious suggested. She had been carrying the weight since he had left her, since Sasuke had killed Naruto. Why not add more weight? After all, she'd grown used to the previous burden.

The rain began to fall in ice cold sheets, but she merely brushed her wet strands aside, choking, desperate for air as she pressed herself on. She was a missing nin now. Oh gods. Sakura ran the entire way till she reached the border, the waterfall fog still clear in the cold rain that pounded into her back and face. Shivering, Sakura made her way through the mud and grime and then she heard the man behind her.

Turning, jade met cold sharingan.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him, eying the Akatsuki cloaked man with contempt. He was wet, hair drenched and sticking to him, as the droplets ran down his half exposed face. He unzipped his cloak, resting his arm on the fold of the inside.

"Poor little Sakura, so lost in a cold and fallen world." Itachi mused, walking to the side of her, red eyes gleaming predatorily as his pace quickened.

Sakura paled, eyes narrowed and she turned to follow him, not trusting his moves as she crouched, fists clenched. She looked over her shoulder at him as he paced in a circle around her, the rain falling about them.

_ Get a hold of yourself, he's the enemy!_ Inner Sakura cried.

She was right. This wasn't some chuunin or a lackadaisical ninja . This was Uchiha Itachi and loosing focus meant death. She didn't trust him couldn't trust him, and she took a step back before she realized what she was doing. But He knew, and he grinned pressing his advantage.

"Your world of colors keeps coming undone. You have been banished, what ever will you do little Sakura?" Itachi asked, her stepping into her personal space, trampling it, as he closed the distance between them.

Sakura scowled. "I'm not going to ask how you know that. But I am going to demand that you answer my question." She replied firmly, standing toe to toe with him.

Itachi smirked, that secretive smirk that said he had her exactly where he wanted her, and she had just walked right into his trap. Sakura bit her lip until it bled. How did she always fall right where he wanted her to?

"I came to warn you." He replied, cloak around him, ravens taking flight from his features, as if he were an illusion. Sakura shook her head. He was an illusion. He wasn't real. She dispelled the genjutsu, opening her eyes. He still stood their, with that damn smirk on his face.

"Warn me about what?" She muttered, turning from him. If she didn't acknowledge him, perhaps he would go away, disappear like she wished her disillusions would.

"Danzou has sent men after you." Itachi told her.

"And you think I didn't know about it? What kind of a ninja do you take me for?" Sakura retorted.

"The naïve bravada sort. I know that your little teammate warned you previously, but they are approximately 12 minutes behind me" Itachi told her.

"And you didn't do anything about it?" Sakura scowled. "Some useful apparition you are."

Sharingan eyes narrowed a fraction and Sakura sniffled, wiping the water from her face to try and ignore that pointed glare. She had the quesy feeling that she was pushing buttons she couldn't afford to press.

"I am not your slave or your servant, Sakura. And if you aren't strong enough to defeat these, then why should I give you my time and attention" Itachi replied, eyes narrowed and darkening in the cold rain.

"So this is some sick twisted test for me to pass? Well I already told you I want nothing to do with you" Sakura replied sharply, turning from him. She didn't care anymore. She was angry tired and hurt by the things that happened and whether he was real or fake didn't matter anymore.

"No, this is your punishment for being naïve and doubting me. When are you going to wake up from this dream, Sakura? Danzou has won. Konoha has fallen, and the Kyuubi bearer can no longer help you. Your friends are dying slowly, one by one and the rest are about to be consumed by Danzou or their pathetic revenge." Itachi snapped.

"What is this really?" Sakura asked. "Why are you helping me?"

"This is reality, Sakura, a fact that you refuse to acknowledge. You still don't believe that I exist. Why should I bother explaining myself to you?" Itachi stated, stepping forward and snatching her wrist before she could grab her weapons.

"You want me to bleed for you? You want to test my blood, take my hair, or check my genetics, Sakura?" Itachi snapped, tone colder than the grave as he pulled her towards him.

"I am flesh and blood." He told her, gripping her wrists harder, as she cried out nearly breaking them. She fought the hold, but couldn't escape.

Fading jade, snuffed out by her pain and frustration, met those bladed sharingan eyes, and she saw the fire in them, as he looked at her. Oh gods. Desire. There was desire there in those sharingan depths and it was because and for her alone to see. She could see it, as clear as daylight or stars in the sky. And it terrified her as it igniting something else within her.

" And I do not have time to waste for your pathetic inqueries about my existence." He told her, kissing her hard, as he pressed into her.

He was warm, unbearably warm as he plundered her mouth and his warmth drew her own out as her skin exploded with uncomfortably firey spirals beneath the surface, making her writhe against him. His tongue carresed her outer lips, pressing their advantage with her surprised gasp. He tasted like green tea, and she couldn't help the small moan that escaped her from his ardent administrations. He released her, and she licked her lips, startled to find the taste of green tea still lingering. Oh gods. Oh gods, he was real and he wanted her for something sinister and evil and that kiss...

Sakura had the frozen look of a deer about to be killed by a predator. She was frozen in place.

"So now you understand?" He asked her with exasperation.

"H-how is this possible?" Sakura asked in a small voice.

"It does not matter. What matters is that you know I exist. You have no lingering sympathies to keep you tied down, Sakura. You have no country, no home. You have lost everything you held dear, and I am offering you the path of divine justice. It is you who must take it." Itachi told her, vanishing with crows as Sakura registered their ki. Eyes narrowed, she drew her sword as she was surrounded by the enemy nin. Root anbu, all masked, except for one.

"I'm going to bathe in your blood and eat your flesh, little girly" His purple eyes, half crazed by the look of madness terrified her.

This man meant what he said, and Sakura felt the fear grip her. She shook it off. She was an anbu captain, and these men would pay for the comrades that had to die for Danzou's sick justice.

She crouched as the first two launched forward, the crazed man watching in sick amusement. _Pawns_ she thought with a sneer. _He wants to see my ability, to gauge me_

She sliced into them easily, swivelling on one leg with the grace of a dancer, the speed of a ninja as she placed her foot down, the two dropping, dead. Green eyes starved malevolently into his own. His grin only widened as he usher two fingers forward, signaling the rest of his squad forward.


	7. Vigor of the Mind

AN: Finally got a plot bunny restoration. This should be good, or incredibly crappy I think because there's no room for inbetween.

Definition of Irony? I was inspired by a pirate movie to write my ninja ficlets haha.

"_Iron rusts from disuse; water looses it's purity from stagnation...even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind" Leonardo da Vinchi_

Ratsu watched with growing anticipation as the Godaime's apprentice laid into his men, slicing and hacking them without mercy or remorse. Their broken bodies fell, twisted with the ugly grimace of death, defeated in body and soul. He shifted, grunting in eagerness every now and then, feet twitching, as if he would move yet he stood still watching those green eyes as she slaughtered his men. He twitched again but supressed the urge to move forward.

He could tell it made her nervous by the way she always kept him in the corner of her eye, the way she refused to turn her back on him, the way she was always expecting him to leap forward to engage her. Smart girl. Ratsu was the kind but it was exactly why he was resisting his impulses. He was not inclined to kindness or rules of engagement and he would show her no mercy, but he waited, eagerly wanted to see what she would do, how she would react. There was something beautiful about her dying that it made him want to see her move even more. And he was pleased by her response time.

She beheaded the last of the first wave of men he sent forward, and he applauded her, clapping almost lost in the sound of thunder, lightning striking the sky as the rain poured around them, fog rising with the cold front moving over them.

"I'm impressed. But sadly the problem with impressions is that they don't last." Ratsu replied, stepping forward.

"Chee" Sakura spat.

"All flowers fade, little Sakura" Ratsu replied, raising his sword.

"and every rose has it's thorn" She replied.

Sai was beside him. "I thought you wanted me to fight her" He asked with his emotionless voice.

Ratsu's look turned dangerously malevolent.

"Changed my mind. Hang back. You get to watch." Ratsu told him, licking his lips as he lifted his jagged sword larger than himself, connected to his wrist.

Sai's eyebrow twitched for a fraction of a second, but he bowed in acknowledgment. This man was his superior and he could not afford to blow his cover...but this was Sakura...

Sakura watched with a sinking feeling. He wanted Sai to watch as he killed her. He thought she was going to cave, to crumble the moment he tried to attack her. That she would curl over and die. That she couldn't take it. That she was _weak._

Perhaps it was instinct that rose, her own defiance of his statement giving her the unspoken courage to rise. He had severely underestimated her. Sakura was the kind to respond when she was backed into a corner, to become a fighter in desperation. It was why she had lived as long as she had. It was why she was going to walk away from this and take this man's head with her. Jade narrowed and piercing, she gripped her katana, hand open and bidding him forward.

His sick grin widened and with crazed eyes he lauched at her, steel cutting and biting into her swords as she parried, denying him the pleasure of running her through with his longer blade. His grin grew wider, creepier, as his speed rose. Sakura ducked, dodged and tumbled over his blows, knowing that he was gauging her. He hadn't seen anything yet. She increased her speed launching her attacks with blinding accuracy. Ratsu rose to meet her, parrying and thrusting the heftier blade, forcing Sakura to be nimble and weary on her toes.

Why was nothing connecting? The openings were there, and yet he was still alive and still able to block in the millisecond. Sakura noticed he'd been slowly picking up speed, rising as her own rose to counter him and she barely redirected a blow meant to take her head off. She had to summon chakra to ward off the blow and he grinned as he saw the faint green glow around her.

"Ah the infamous strength of the Godaime, herself." He leered as he pressed his blade into hers. She half snarled, green chakra glowing as she forced him back.

"You want to see how strong I am? Come closer and I'll tear your head off" Sakura snarled, crouching as she slammed her fist into the ground.

"Play time is over" Ratsu said, disappearing from view before the ground disappeared. Sakura's green eyes widened. He had been toying with her for his speed was exponentially faster.

Searching frantically for his chakra signature trying to avoid her own panic, she saw the shadow looming over her, turning in that fraction of a fraction just in time to send him flying over her. His shrieking laughter pierced the shroud of new snow falling over them, making her soul shrink back from the horrid sound. _Monster...._

He launched at her with blinding speed, and Sakura flinched. Had she been moving mid step she might have been able to stop him, but being defensive in nature, and having stopped from her last move she still hadn't mastered the timing it took to take and catch the blows at this kind of speed. Ratsu only needed that half a millisecond. In that moment he took advantage of her, and she received the lash of her sword that she couldn't block or redirect. Trying to stifle her scream of pain knowing it would only please him, she flew, thrown back by the power of the blow into the mud.

Looking up she saw his evil grin, and he licked the blood, her blood off his jagged blade.

"Mmm..you taste so sweet, little Sakura." He murmured.

Jade eyes hardened. "You sick bastard. So is that your thing? You want to eat my flesh?"She sneered.

"I'll do more than that, little flower. I plan to have my fun with your body first." He told her, whipping back and forth like a shark on the trail of blood as Sakura blanched.

"You'd have to kill me first" She said defiantly.

Ratsu's grin grew wider if at all possible. "That's kind of the idea." He told her.

Sakura felt ill, but didn't have time to empty the contents of her stomach.

Ratsu flew forward, blinding speed but he hit, practically bounced off the green chakra Sakura held in place by her excellent chakra control. It was impressive enough that she managed to control her chakra with her own appendages, but the fact that she could hold the chakra outside of herself in a designated place and still move was the reason why she was S class and an anbu captain. Furthermore he'd fallen under her genjutsu, so he could feel the chakra wall but he couldn't see it or her only some bloody green hillside. The only way, the fastest way was to barrel through her wall in order to break the jutsu. Ratsu snarled his fury, angry at not having seen or sensed her chakra shield, angry for underestimating her. He sliced and hacked at the substantial chakra wall Sakura had built.

Sakura grinned in spite of her pain. Didn't expect that did he? Sakura didn't have long to gloat. Green chakra lit the area, surrounding her as her wound closed, and she gasped in relief.

Rising, wiping the mud off of her face, he broke through the wall and the came with blinding fury and she rose to meet him. They were two blurs, that moved, blades crackling with their intensity.

Ratsu hacked and slashed, anger giving him a burst of power. Locking swords with Sakura she cried out as they came body to body. Putting her chakra into it, her arms shaking as he pressed her down, Sakura did her best to hold her own. Ratsu snarled in response his own chakra beginning to glow and his sword began to bite into the hardened steel of her own.

"Impossible..." Sakura whispered.

"Did you think after seeing your jutsu a few times I wouldn't have picked up on it. It is my fate to kill you" Ratsu commented with a sharp toothy grin.

Sakura made no reply.

"I can do this, and more" Ratsu snarled, expending his chakra outward, and slicing through her swords like a knife through paper. Once again Sakura found herself overpowered and to avoid being butchered she leapt backwards, giving him a quick blow to the face whilst avoiding his sword. Ratsu spit out a tooth as he caught a lock of her hair, but missed hitting the rest of her, the nimble bitch.

Sakura was six yards away, and Ratsu paused, picking up the strands of her hair, and putting them muddy and all in his mouth, chewing.

Sakura wanted to vomit. He was a cretin, a horror, a monster.

Sai stepped forward, eyes following the flurry of activity with a slight frown. While Sakura was cunning she simply didn't know Ratsu. He appeared crazy, but every action was intentional, towards a purpose. Sakura didn't realize she was getting beaten back. He, who knew her best of all, knew her limits. He was cutting away at her chakra, trying to get her to overcompensate. She was underestimating his endurance, a fact that many of his enemies had done and faltered.

If he interfered he would blow his cover. There was no mistaking his jutsu and the others would know. But then again if Ratsu died and he did nothing to avenge then he would be just as guilty, suspicious to the root anbu and Danzou.

Decision made, he launched himself at Sakura, summoning his jutsu. Sakura cursed, fingers flying through her seals as she made to counter the attack she knew coming wondering how she was going to fight both of them with Sai stepping in.

Ratsu turned with S class speed, launching himself at the ink user, snarling his fury.

"I told you, She's MINE,_ idiot!_" He snapped, lashing out with his huge sword. Sai made to counter, but his sword cut through Sai's own, taking the edge and momentum of the hit. Sai hit the floor knocked out cold but still alive. Ratsu spat on the pasty artist slumped in the mud.

"Stupid Lucky bastard." Ratsu muttered in contempt.

Sakura took a sharp inhale of breathe. He would never know that Sai was saving himself and her at the same time. Sai was trusting her strength. She pressed herself forward with a battle cry, summoning her axe with a drop of her blood. The hefty tool wielded with both hands, it was time for him to get a taste of her true power.

The axe rang off his blade slicing into it at the girl held it with the intent to kill. Ratsu was caught off guard by her ferocity. He parried her axe, retreating as she pressed her advantage. Ratsu gave ground as Sakura took it with fury.

"Impressive. But how long can you keep this up girl?" He rasped, blocking another sweeping chop of the large blade.

"Long enough to be your executioner" Sakura replied, forcing him back.

Sakura was intelligent, a fact that had saved her more often than not. She could deduce moves, force her opponents to show their hands, and then when she knew they had nothing more, she would overtake them. She didn't need endurance if she could force them. Ratsu, in his rage, had thrown one of his major trumps at her. He'd made his move, a mistake. Sakura would return it in full force. Moving with a speed Kakashi might have envied, she saw her opportunity, the opportunity that he had given because he was blinded by lust and rage, and she struck. It was not enough to kill him, but she hadn't wanted to kill him, only maim him, scar him so badly that he would never return and never recover.

Ratsu's cry of pain and fury sounded so wretchedly wonderfully sweet to her ears as she nearly severed his arm off. How many woman and men had she spared? How many people would no longer be tortured by him? Stepping back to admire her handiwork she watched as he grabbed it wrenching in pain and agony as blood gushed down his arm in alarming amounts.

"Retreat for now, Ratsu and try to save your miserable life before you bleed out. And if you ever come after me, the next thing I sever will be your neck." She told him.

Ratsu gave her a look that would've chilled the dead, but he clutched his useless arm as he moaned and writhed before disappearing with a swirl of smoke.

Sakura sighed. Summoning her chakra, she reached down to Sai's unconcious form.

Sai's eyes instantly fluttered awake as he jerked up.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked him, green eyes filled with worried as she brushed his wet hair out of his face. The snow began to fall around them in earnest, white covering over the bloody, muddy stain Ratsu had left bringing a purity, a clarity to the air as the fog around them cleared for the pristine cold.

"Yeah, I think so" He clutched his head rubbing it in pain.

"Good." Sakura said, punching him and sending him flying across the mud and snow.

"That was uncalled for" Kakashi's voice made her freeze in place.

Sakura turned, eyes narrowed on his lanky form that leaned against the tree. "No. It wasn't." She told him, sizing him up as she crossed her own arms. She waited for a response but when she didn't get one, she sighed.

"I don't know why I should ever expect you to be anything but lazy." Sakura remarked.

"Always be true to yourself" He told her with a crinkly eyed smile beneath his masked face. The only change from her childhood was an anbu uniform and a red scarf. _He_ had worn red, had red smeared across his body before he died. Sakura's heart hardened, curling around the hurt and the pain protectively.

"What do you want, Kakashi?" She asked him, stance akimbo as she looked upon her former teacher.

"I want you to stay" He told her looking her in the eyes.

"That's not possible and you know it" She told him stiffly. Why was he telling her this?

"I know." He replied with a small shrug of his shoulders, his frame drooping. "I just- I want you to know I don't agree with what she did" Kakashi told her, raking a hand through his silver hair, looking away.

_He's nervous, or anxious about something,_ she noted with interest.

"Look Kakashi, there's nothing to change what's happened and I-" Eyes narrowed she sensed them.

"There's anbu on the way" She accused, throwing it, flinging her words at him like a kunai.

"I know-" Kakashi replied quickly. "I just needed to talk to you before they did-"

"You've been stalling for the past five minutes" She spat angry at him. "You followed me to lead them here?" She demanded.

"No, just hear me out, Tsunade was wrong. There's still a chance to defeat Danzou- I want you with me-" He told her.

"By turning me in? By feeding me to the wolves? By giving them exactly what they want? Even anbu can't stop him now and going back there I become a stationary target, just waiting for him to poison me or kill me in my sleep if I'm fortunate. You want me to return in chains?" Sakura spat.

Kakashi's face filled with controlled anger. "It's not like that. I wouldn't let it be like that"

"You can't _control_ everything Kakashi!" Sakura cried, tears finally breaking surface, streaming down her cheeks. "You think you can, but you can't. Stop punishing yourself for their deaths!"

"I'm not going to abandon you. I can't. I wont let them take you either." Kakashi told her, grey eye firm and unwavering as his Sharingan whirled.

"There's no other way, can't save me. Hell, you can't even save yourself" Sakura retorted, swallowing her tears. "Goodbye-"

Sakura turned done with this conversation, with the sensei that could never ever not once find it within himself to believe in her, to rely on her own strength. But Kakashi was there, grabbing her wrist.

"Don't-" He told her voice ragged with some unknown, over flooding emotion.

"Don't what, Kaka-senpai?" Sakura whispered, the endearment slipping from her as she took the breathe he was exhaling, breathing in his musky scent of pine and woodlands. "What more could you possibly say to me, Kakashi?" She asked him trembling from the cold, and from the warmth she felt flickering in his presence. He'd always been flickering, warmth buried beneath his layers of laziness, and disdain.

"Go." He told her, eyes holding her own, mismatching sharingan and grey filled with something Sakura could not have anticipated. She drew a sharp breathe, losing the breathe she'd gained, startled by their proximity and her own warbled mind at the ramifications of his words.

"I-"Sakura swallowed. If she stayed she would be a sitting duck.

"Don't go" Kakashi pleaded in a tender murmur, pulling her into his embrace, masked face burying itself in her silky rosette tresses as he held her like he had wished, like he would never let go.

She wouldn't last the night if she returned. Though she hated Tsunade for it, her shishou was right. And as much as it pained her to admit it, Itachi was right. She couldn't do things Kakashi's way, though what Itachi had planned for her could be no better. No, it promised worse, darker and more treacherous than she could ever imagine. If she left, she would be retreating into Itachi's darkness, enfolding herself in him, playing right into his very hands. But he had promised her satisfaction. He had promised her retribution paid in full and that thought was more tantalizing, more tempting and sultry than she could admit. If she had to bloody her hands and stain her soul to do it, to get her satisfaction for her pains, then so be it. She had tried things Naruto's way. But Naruto wasn't here anymore. He was dead. Gone and snuffed out, leaving her in the dark.

She couldn't return now, if she ever hoped to save them all. Danzou wasn't afraid to hold Konoha hostage against itself, using whatever means necessary. Sakura could finally see it now. They needed someone outside of Konoha to play the same game he was playing and to defeat him at it.

She had to retreat, to survive, somehow find Itachi and formulate a plan. Until she had a strategy for defeating Danzou the home she was banished from, the home she could never return to at this point, was doomed. Sakura couldn't bear that thought. Couldn't bear the idea of Danzou running and ruining her homeland, her precious people. She would do the forbidden, she would take what Itachi was offering, and bind herself to the shadows. She would become a missing ninja and return to upsurp Danzou in the darkness. She would defeat him, with the aid of a player better than Danzou himself.

Anbu were on the edge of the clearing and she had precious little time. Sakura clenched her fist. Of all the people to say goodbye to, he was the hardest. Sakura didn't fully understand herself why, didn't want to fully understand why this was so. And so she didn't say goodbye. Because Sakura was a coward deep down inside particularly in matters of the heart.

"I can't" She murmured, turning in a sprint, throwing herself off the edge of the cliff and the statues marking the boundaries of Konoha.

Kakashi was too slow, too sluggish to stop her, and he ran to the edge, and even with his Sharingan, lost sight of her within the fog and the freshly falling snow around him. Only she could survive that fall with her medical skill. She would survive it, he willed, but part of him denied that, part of him doubted her abilities. Clutching his eyes, hiding his pain he composed himself. Sighing, he made his way over to help the ink user to his feet.


	8. Something Haunting

AN: Yae! Yes, Itachi is in this chapter. I finally got some plot figured out in this twisted head of mine and so hopefully it will explain itself, sort of, in this chapter though it might be confusing. I'm taking some liberties but I basically just reread the entire akatsuki arch till the most recent chapter, and so within the next few chapters I'm hoping to put some context to Itachi's presumptuous OOC-ness and perhaps defend that a bit. There's decent reasons why he's doing what he's doing (sort of), and why he's so attracted to Sakura. SPOILERS UP TO 476! Don't read if you haven't read it yet!

_ "There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul and something of it's inconceivable mystery" -Joseph Conrad_

Crows cawed at the edge of the waterfall near the river, circling in formation as they finally found what they were looking for. They spiraled lower and lower over the cherry blossom body, descending and blurring as they merged into shadows. Sharingan eyes appeared within their darkness. Those crimson orbs stared out into the ground laden with snow with purpose. Itachi stepped out of the fog, making his way to the edge of the river, akatsuki cloak rustling. In his vision, he saw the muddy pink hair, the broken body half banked up on the side of the river. It was clear that she was unconscious. He bent down, pushing her pink tresses out of her face, fingers brushing her damp skin. He regretted the action almost immediately after it, and rebuked himself for it, examining his hand in contempt.

He had more important concerns, mainly her diminishing health. She had jumped wrong. It was clear by the extent of her injuries. She had jumped wrong thus impacted the water at an awkward angle. It meant that she had been rushed to jump. He should have stayed to watch her, to make sure, but his anger towards her, or really his anger towards her attitude about this was something he couldn't change. Perhaps it was something they shared after all? He had no hesitation about her defeating Ratsu. He was an overzealous animal and he was too eager for the kill. Sakura was smart enough to use that to her advantage and obviously had. So what would drive her to jump off a cliff?

Eyes narrowed, he knew instantly and instinctively. It wasn't merely what, but rather who. The only people that would inspire that sort of recklessness in her behavior, the ones that always had. Her team. Sakura had ridiculous ideas about loyalties and what that meant. The girl had been a member of team seven since her chuunin days, and it had cost her promotions to stay with her team, greater and better achievements and places where the girl might have fit. She was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. It had to be her team. Sai was involved, or Kakashi. Perhaps they had tried to stop her. _Fools_. By trying to stop her, to divert her path, they were only driving her straight into his arms and playing right into his hands.

There were things he could tell simply by his battlefield experience as he pulled her delicately from the river to the grass on the river bank. Her femur was broken, yet not shattered and it hadn't pierced through the skin. Her ribs were bruised along with her feet, several cracked from impact, and she twisted her knee opposite of the break. There might be other strained or torn muscles but she must have passed out from the pain in her ribs and thigh. Itachi set to work to splint the leg before moving her, taking twigs, and ripping strips from his cloak to set the leg whilst he eyed her external injuries and the height from which she fell.

It was impressive with her injuries that she hadn't passed out upon impact. If she had she might not have made it. But it was Sakura's weakness that she had the ability to heal herself. As a medic, of course Sakura wasn't used to extreme measures of pain. She was used to healing her afflictions and prioritizing having enough chakra to do so. He wasn't surprised. One's greatest strength always was coincidingly their greatest weakness. Every gift, every ability was a double edged sword that could cut through you as easily as an enemy. Itachi had learned that the hard way. Lifting her gently making sure not to jostle her of move her ribcage, after all punctured lungs would be worse than their cracked state; they disappeared into the fog.

* * *

Sakura awoke and nearly screamed in her agony. Immediately healing chakra went to work on her busted ribs and thigh and she groaned trying to stifle her sounds. She broke through her own rising fever, healing chakra making her relax. Breathing a sigh of relief she sat up, pushing off an Akatsuki cloak covering her. Eyes narrowing at the silky cloak she looked around her. She was in a cave. She could hear the waterfall but not see it, though the cave was damp, water trickling from places. She could feel the warmth and see the light. She turned to see the fire, and saw Itachi sitting there, Sharingan eying her intently. She glared.

"I suppose you expect a thank you, or something." Sakura said with a snort.

"You know what I want" Itachi told her with confidence, those crimson eyes probing, searching her own as the fire was reflected in those red red eyes. The desire was there, burning in his depths and Sakura had an errie feeling of deja-vu though she couldn't understand why or how. It chilled her to the core.

Sakura scowled. "No, I dont." She said, looking away, uncomfortable with the amount of intensity in those eyes. She was afraid of him, afraid of how sincerely he looked at her. Why did he desire her?

"You know what I want, you just don't understand why I want it yet" Itachi told her, clarifying his statement.

Sakura had no reply, so she did not make one.

"I need your partnership, Sakura. I cannot do this alone. I need your help" Itachi told her, voice soft and careening, already seducing her with his calm. His tenor voice was as hypnotic and entrancing as his eyes.

"Why me, Itachi? I want real answers before I agree to this" Sakura told him eying him sincerely.

Itachi sighed. As if she hadn't already agreed to this. As if she could walk away now. But he could not afford to be arrogant or assuming. He had expected this, her questions. And truthfully they were at an impasse unless he did something. If he came clean to her, she had only two responses. To run from him, or turn to him. So he would work within better odds. This wasn't a situation he was comfortable with so how could he expect her to be comfortable? He needed her on his side. To understand what was happening and why. He needed her commitment before he could tell her, explain to her his entire circumstances. So he would only tell her part of them, the part she could handle.

He had done everything in his power to sway her to the latter of the choices. He had revealed himself to her, shown his hand earlier than he would have liked, given her anxiety, suspense, had saved her from countless unforeseen deaths, had seduced her with words and actions. He had worked his illusions, played with her senses, twisted his thoughts around her, binding her to this, to him as best he could. He had invaded her dreams, her personal space. He had removed any and all obstacles keeping her from him. This was what he had worked up to, what he had gambled everything for.

Would she believe him? Would she understand? He couldn't project. Right now he needed to focus on communicating his purpose, focus on the moment. All else would follow.

"You were right to say that I am not necessarily the real Itachi. Sasuke did kill me, or at least my physical body. But what is a person, really?" He told her, meeting her gaze.

Sakura gasped, rising to her feet as she grabbed a kunai.

"and yet, I am all that is left of him." Itachi finished. "In that sense, I am what I say I am because I am the remnant. I am Itachi" He told her.

Sakura scowled at him, crouching as she summoned her chakra.

"I will not harm you, Sakura. Or more truthfully I cannot." Itachi replied with a resigned sadness about him.

"I don't understand. How can you be a fraction of a person? He's dead! I watched as amaterasu the black fire consumed the mountainside, his body along with it. So you're either a ghost, an apparition or a spirit seeking revenge!" Sakura demanded, trembling as she felt goosebumps all over. A fraction of a person, he either was or he wasn't. But regardless him standing before her shouldn't be physically possible. Uchiha Itachi was dead, and this person in front of her was an imposter.

* * *

She wasn't that far from the truth. Perhaps he was the ghost haunting her. Itachi didn't have time for this useless praddle. Philosophy and meta physics could wait.

"Tell me Sakura, did you see my body go up in flames?" Itachi asked her, eyes piercing.

Sakura began to reply and stopped. No. No she hadn't actually seen his body in flames, but she had heard he had died, at Sasuke's hands.

"Very well then. If you will allow me to explain I will try to make myself clear, but before I do I want your word." Itachi told her.

"My word on what?" Sakura asked with suspicion eying her way out of the cave. Water dripped surreptitiously in between their words.

"I want your promise that you will listen to what I have to say before responding." Itachi told her, eying her as he sat again. He took a stick, and repositioned the kindling in the fire, stirring it into repose.

"Chee" Sakura spat.

"I need your promise, Sakura. Come and sit with me, warm yourself by the fire" Itachi told her.

"How do I know this isn't some sort of a trick?" Sakura asked.

"Didn't I already tell you that I can't harm you? If you can't, or don't believe me, then why are you still here? And unharmed no less. I have done everything in my power to protect you from danger. It would be foolish and beneath myself and your honor to attack you now." Itachi told her patiently.

Sakura grimaced. He had a point. Rising from her crouch, kunai deposited in her pouch, she made her way over to him, and sat on the ground of the other side of the fire. If he was willing to talk, had saved her countless times, and was willing to tell her why he needed her so desperately, then it was time for her to give a little faith as well. After all she truly needed him, apparition or not, because she was completely alone this time. She would have no help without him and she couldn't bring Danzou down alone. She would trust him enough, for now.

"You have my word that I will hear you out, Itachi, but if I don't like what I hear, after you finish, I'm gone." Sakura told him coldly.

"Believe me, Sakura, when I say that I need you more than you could ever possibly need me. You can only stand to gain from this endeavor." Itachi told her.

"Why are you risking this now? What's in it for you?" Sakura asked, wrapping her arms around her knees, as she stared into the fire.

"I told you already. I need you. It is enough for you to know that I do. If you will allow me to explain, in time, I hope you will understand why." Itachi told her.

"Alright then. Enough with the theatrics and your own personal ghouly-ness. Tell me" Sakura demanded.

"Ghouly...ness?" Itachi said with the hint of a smile playing on those thin lips. Sakura scowled, cracking her knuckles.

Itachi chuckled darkly. "Very well then. I will refer to the Itachi you know him as, as the real Itachi to avoid confusion." Itachi told her. Sakura nodded.

"Sometime after the Akatsuki member Deidara's death and before Sasuke fought the real Itachi and killed him, I was sealed." Itachi told her.

"Sealed?" She asked, looking for specifics.

"In the midst of this process, The real Itachi sealed me, a portion of his power within a human host."

"W-what?" Sakura asked, shocked. "How is that physically possible? You made a copy of yourself and sealed yourself within someone?"

"Remember Sakura, that the 4th was able to seal the Kyuubi within a boy so it is not impossible, merely improbable. The process is a long and complicated one, but certainly executable by the right person. Once again, I am not a copy of the real Itachi. I am all that is left of him; the remnant of his power. In light of the circumstances and speaking for the real Itachi, I couldn't afford to leave things to chance" Itachi replied.

"You used forbidden jutsu that you learned from Orochimaru. You became a parasite and fed off the of the life of your host." Sakura declared horrified.

"You belittle me so easily, Sakura." Itachi's tone was cold, rebuking.

"I am not a parasite, and the relationship of my jutsu in comparison to Orochimaru's is the comparison of a child to an expert. Orochimaru's jutsu is parasitic in nature because he cares nothing for life, unless it is his own and he will let nothing stand in his way on his quest for immortality and jutsu. I am not that sloppy or arbitrary." Itachi replied.

"So you expect me to believe you simply because you tell me you're better than Orochimaru was. How do I know you aren't lying to me to get me to believe what you want?" Sakura snapped.

"It isn't a matter of trust, Sakura it's a matter of logical process. Think about it. In light of what you know about me, would it be plausible to accuse me of being sloppy on my process or prowess? Uchiha do not tolerate failure. I have killed in the past but I am not as Orochimaru. I binded my life to that of my host. And you accuse me of being a parasite? To compare me to that leech of a sannin?" Itachi told her with a shake of his hair. He was wet, she noticed.

"I am far more subtle than that, Sakura. There was a symbiotic relationship formed with my host. Mutually, we benefited from each other until his untimely death"

"If you both benefited so much, then how did he die?" Sakura asked, eyes narrowed.

"It does not matter." Itachi replied stiffly.

"How can I trust you?" Sakura scowled.

"Trust is given as it is gained, Sakura. I will not reveal more than this as of yet. The important factor is that I now exist, though not as I previously was and I did not kill my host though I was able to seperate my power from my hosts upon his death. Like chakra, I have form and substance, but not in the same way others did and do. You can touch me, yet not sense me. I have chakra, but no signature. I have substance but no feeling. I can't taste food, I have no heart beat."

"So you have nothing on your own." Sakura replied, perplexed. Her mind was boggled at the ramifications of what he was suggesting. The kind of seal one would have to perform, and the kind of chakra and jutsu knowledge was simply out of this world. It was bordering on playing god. Not to mention the medical prowess needed, and the chakra control necessary for such a feat. What _was _he now?

Itachi's eyes did not miss the way her eyes ignited, those heated jade already burning with curiosity. The way her head tilted just a fraction as she stared at him in wonder and amazement. Sakura was already thinking, already trying to solve him, to figure this out. Perfect. She wouldn't be able to resist this puzzle. She couldn't walk away. He was a mystery, an enigma and she was drawn to him because of it. He would snare her with it.

"I have substance yet nothing tying me to this plane of existence. I was a power, bequeathed with the memories of my maker....but I also carry the memories and ties, and emotional bonds." Itachi told her.

"So whoever you sealed yourself in...he's dead right?" Sakura asked.

Itachi nodded.

"So how is it that you cannot hurt me?" Sakura demanded.

"I bonded most exclusively with my host. The bond binds me, and my hands now, else wise I would have killed you when I had the chance. Instead, it works against me, forcing my hand in your favor. I am tied to you irrevocably, whether I want to be or not" Itachi's tone lowered, cold and forboding. He was angry about it. She couldn't say she blamed him.

"and I'm just supposed to believe that?" Sakura told him.

"He had an unwavering sense of justice, particularly in regards to women." Itachi said. The fact that it was this woman in particular she didn't need to know yet. Had he said too much?

Sakura eyed him with hard jade. Was it possible that Itachi was telling the truth? She couldn't trust him, dare not trust him, but she also couldn't do this without him. And as if he didn't already know that she would do this, but for all pretense he looked nervous, cautious himself as if he wasn't sure she would accept him. She would enter into this deal of sorts, and he knew that she couldn't refuse this. But she would be cautious. She was a genius in her own rights. If Itachi did anything she could stop him, or at least find a way to stop him. Danger was also opportunity and Sakura needed a miracle if she wanted to save Konoha.

"I'm drawn to you, in an inexplicable way that I cannot fight, though I have tried. I cannot bring harm to you or like a rubber band it snaps on me. And yet I also know that you are the only one who can help me. Who can help me do what we must to restore it all, to bring justice upon my killers. Furthermore I know that you desire to do so by your own means and we seek the same goal in this instance. I can help you as well." He told her.

Sakura eyed him weighing her choices in the moment. If she agreed to this, there was no going back. Could she do what she needed to do; what he needed her to do to make this work?

"What do you want me to do?" Sakura asked him, eyes filled with a strange emotion as she looked at him.

"I want you to help me to retrieve my real body from Madara's lair, To help me fully integrate back into my rightful body. I want to kill Sasuke and take back my eyes. With my power in full force, we will crush Danzou and his resistance, once and for all." Itachi replied.

"Wha-" Sakura exclaimed."You want to what? Simply sneak into Madara's lair? And you think we are going to survive that to do anything else?" Sakura exclaimed. "and how do you know he has your real body? And what makes you so sure that we can just sneak in and take it- and Sasuke-"

"I know him exclusively, Sakura. He does not change." He replied. "As for Sasuke, do not fret. I have a plan already in store. Danzou however will be more difficult."

"And Sasuke won't?" Sakura replied.

"You don't know Sasuke like I do. You never have." Itachi replied. "But we shall focus on one task at a time." Itachi replied.

"This is madness. You act like taking your real body back will be cake." Sakura replied shaking as she thought of the extremity of his proclamations.

"Think about it Sakura. How close do you think he guards the dead? Madara's focus is on the living. And I am intimately aware of where he would store my body. The layouts, the seals, the guards. Madara is a victim of habit. He need not change something if all who knew of the knowledge is dead. Therein lies his defeat." Itachi replied.

"Do you simply intend to sneak into his hideout then and swipe your body back? He will know!" Sakura replied.

"I cannot be sensed, however I will need your medical prowess to completely transfer this form into my body and to heal the surface area." Itachi replied

"How do you know your body isn't ashes already?" Sakura replied, grasping for anything, this was sheer madness.

"Because I know Madara too well." Itachi replied. "My body would be too great of a trophy to pass up."

"Sakura" Itachi reached out a hand, placing it on her arm.

"I cannot do this without you." He said, eying her with all the sincerity and intensity he had. He was solely, wholly focused on her, and Sakura shook, the ill feeling of someone walking over her grave. The moon shone bright and high in the sky, lighting the cave in it's ethereal light, glowing. It was haunting, chilling to the bone.

"I-" She paused, biting her lip.

Itachi brought her in, kissing her passionately, suffocating her with his intoxicating heat, the musky scent of incense and pine. Sakura couldn't help it. He was warm, nearly burning her and firm, flesh and bone against her. He tasted so bitterly sweet. His kiss was of sweetness and death and both were found at his supple hands. It was completely irrational, this desire. She wasn't supposed to want him or this and the rational side of her brain was screaming to run, to flee for her life, but he drew her out nonetheless. She wanted him, though she couldn't reconcile that with her love of her country, her love for a man that had died. She wanted him, wanted this, wanted to believe again that there was someway for Konoha to win, for her to fix what had gone so horribly wrong. She wanted to take hold of the unravelling strands and weave a new fate. She couldn't do it alone.

"Alright" She replied shakily, her breathe short, sealing her fate. What choice did she have really?


	9. Vice

AN: Dark time inspire darker thoughts. I like whiskey and Kakashi isn't exactly cultured so I figure it's a good drink for him. Interspersed in the flashback of sorts is Sasuke's perspective. I couldn't help but write for him, as his part in it all is rather poignant beneath his thick layer of apathy. Spoilers up to 492. Kishimoto's Madara is a disapointment, so I'm turning from cannon verse at this point. Also, I don't buy that Orochimaru was able to get Itachi's body so as far as I'm concerned it never happened. Boo cannon verse. If that bothers you then feel free not to read, after all it is fanfiction.

…...................................................................................................................................

"Vice is a monster of so frightful mien. As to be hated needs but to be seen; yet seen too oft ; familiar with her face, we first endure, then pity, then embrace" -Alexander Pope-

….....................................................................................................................................

_ "Naruto" Sakura breathed, her vision blurred, choking through her tears, dripping down on him as she summoned her chakra forcing it into him so fast that it singed her fingers, burning her chakra coils as she poured it out like blood; like his blood that was so steadily pouring. But she had used so much from Taka's battle distraction on Konoha.... _

_ "Sa-ku-ra-Chan" Naruto strangled out, the hole in his chest nearly though his heart leaking, pouring out blood he couldn't afford to loose, the damage extensive;more than extensive as she tried to force more chakra into his coils, knitting tissue together as fast as she could possibly muster. Oh gods. Oh gods she had to make it. There could be no other alternative this time. She simply had to save him. _

_ "Don't-don't kill him Sakura-he doesn't know better" Naruto pleaded with her, desperate as his arm's grip on her was strong. How did he have such strength, even now, at the end of all things? Damn it! _

_ "Stop wasting your strength. Stop talking about Sasuke, you idiot! Save your breath. You're dying! Do something!" Sakura screamed, pumping her chakra into him in droves as she choked on her sobs. It wasn't enough, it wasn't working. His cells were deteriorating too rapidly. His organs were critically close to shutting down. NO!_

_ Sasuke watched above, a mute angel of death, and a silent witness, apparently nothing to say about blazing a hole through the man who had never gave up on him; the man who, now, as always had been like a brother to him. Not a single hair was out of place. He didn't even look like he'd been fighting that hard only the evidence contradicted his state. His sword was stained with his blood, but it was his hand, his clenched marble white hand that dripped with a dark red attesting to the deed._

_ Naruto, don't you die on me!" Sakura strangled out. "Please!" She pleaded through clenched teeth._

_ "Don't hate him Sakura..." Naruto pleaded eyes dimming. "No!" Sakura protested, releasing the diamond on her forehead, flooding him in healing chakra that she had saved up. _

…_..............................................................................._

Sasuke's grey eyes flashed, something of emotion in them, threatening to give way. Here, now. Of course he would expect the emotion kin to the flickering of a dying candle in regards to the dobe. He had just killed his greatest rival, the only man that could ever have had a chance to stop him. He had surpassed him, finally, at the end of all things. And yet he wasn't pleased by this knowledge. It left him less than satisfactory. He wasn't sad about it, he simply couldn't put his finger on it. It was something else, this feeling. He was bound in place. He could not stay, did not want to watch the proceedings, for it was enough for him to know that Naruto would die, by his own hands despite Sakura's efforts. Those were wounds even she couldn't hope to save. Yet he could not go either. He needed to see it, to see things through, here, now, at the end of all things.

…_......................................................................................._

_ "No! I will not promise that. I cannot promise that! You can't make me! I love you- damn it, Naruto!" Sakura screamed, pleading him not to leave her. Even with her stored chakra he wasn't stabilizing. She had healed the poisons in his system, but it wasn't enough. All of his major organs were stressed, working over time, and he had massive lacerations aside from the hole in him. _

_ "Love you, Sakura-ch-an" Naruto told her that stupid bright smile glowing on his pale whisker cheeked face. "Always have. Always will" _

_ Naruto choked, blood dribbling from his chin as he smiled that stupid smile. It was the same smile he had worn when she had finally agreed to their first date, the same smile he had when she first kissed him, the same smile wore when he had woken up next to her after having made love to her for the first time, the same smile when she had made jounin, the same smile when he had proposed to her. The same smile when she had walked down the aisle to him. _

_ His system was shutting down, rejecting her healing. The damage was simply too extensive. She'd been too late. But that wasn't possible. The kyuubi was supposed to keep him healthy, damn it, but even that wasn't kicking in. Then it occurred to her. Naruto was suppressing the Kyuubi. _

_ "Goddamn it Naruto! Let it out. Let the kyuubi heal you" Sakura demanded biting her lip hard enough to bleed. The salty tang did nothing to help her turmoil. _

_ "No. I won't let it out-it dies with me-" Naruto told her. "Can't-rrrgh- control it, if I unleash it now."_

_ "Naruto you **can't** die on me!." Sakura snarled blinded by her tears. _

_ "Everything dies sometimes, Sakura Chan." Naruto told her with a faint smile, hacking. _

_ Sakura sobbed as she held him, those blue eyes beginning to flicker. Gods she couldn't do anything. She was useless. Useless in the only thing that mattered. She was a medic. It was her job to save him, damn it. He was the most important person, her precious nakama, her husband. He was her life, damn it and she wasn't worth her salt to save him. And like the passing of the wind, his head hit the forest floor. It did not come back up. Green chakra still ignited around the body, but there was nothing to heal anymore. He was gone. _

_ "NO!" Sakura shrieked, tears soaking his still lifeless body. She shook him desperately and when that failed to work she began to, punch him, pummeling him, trying to get him to respond, to no avail. She wailed. He was dead. He was dead. HE was DEAD. She hadn't realized she was screaming those words until her throat failed her. The man that never knew when to quit, that never said never, the man that refused to give up. Her world. Her sunshine. He was gone. That sunshine, the brilliant warmth she felt from his presence shattered, brilliant pieces scattering in her eyes, blinding her as she was plunged into night, darkness unending as the stars dancing around her harrowing vision. _

_ "Stop it, Sakura!" Kakashi pulled her by the arm, horrified. She turned around and decked him hard fortunately chakra less, fighting like a wildcat to get free but he refused to release her, managing to latch onto her wrist and pull her back to him. Nails scratched into his arms, digging deep and she managed a significant slice on his neck. He winced but Kakashi took it, without letting her go, turning her quickly, and pulling her into his embrace. She fought it, but eventually her strength gave way, adrenaline used up as her body gave out. She broke, sobbing into his chest, nearly collapsing into him, as he stared up at Sasuke. _

_ "What have you done?" Kakashi demanded of him, tone angrier than he had ever heard him. "Do you even fully understand it?" He demanded of the Uchiha heir. _

_ "I did what I said I would do" Sasuke replied grey eyes like mirrors, empty and reflecting only what was perceived, what could be perceived from his end of things. He was so cold and void. "I ended this." he said completely unrepentant and calloused. _

_ As if he was talking about an insect, not the man that had been chasing him since he had left the village. The man that had loved him better than his own kin. _

_ Sakura wilted, crumpled to the floor at his news. Kakashi stepped in front of her protectively, eyes never leaving Sasuke's. _

_ "He was your teammate, your comrade; your brother." Kakashi demanded eyes narrowed. _

_ "He was in my way, and was warned." Sasuke replied. "And now it is done with." _

_ "....done with?" Her voice, colder than ice came and the strength with it as she rose to her feet. "Is that what you have to say about him? That he's over and DONE WITH?" Sakura demanded hair covering her face._

_ "HOW COULD YOU?" Sakura turned, screaming at him as she clenched her fists. "HE LOVED YOU MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF!" _

…_..........................................................................................._

_ S_asuke turned to regard Sakura, her apple green eyes bright from the tears, her fists clenched, her eyes red and puffy. Her face was flushed in her rosy temperment, her pink hair in disarray as she stared up at him in complete hatred, the curtains of pink mussy from sweat and blood and tears streaked in them. She trembled, her body at it's absolute limits, barely able to stand on those shaky feet, but Sakura had always been defiant of her limits. She shined, glowed with her righteous fury, her grief radiant. He could taste her grief, her tears, for he had tasted them, lived them when his brother had ripped everything from him. Those eyes. Those eyes were now the same. She was the same, the same as him and Sasuke had never seen her more beautiful, more terrible. It scared him, scarred him as he looked upon her seeing through the body straight down into her soul. It was too haunting. Too familiar. He recoiled from her look, from her.

…_....................................................................................................._

_ Kakashi's eyes narrowed, stepping in front of her, crouched, ready to summon his Raikiri. Sasuke turned, not even worried about the chakra about to burst forth from his old sensei's hands._

_ "From this day forward, I never knew you. Consider this my act of mercy. Bury him, and with him, bury your memories you once had of me. If I see you again, I will not heisitate to kill you." Sasuke told them, not even facing them as he disappeared. _

_ Kakashi felt torn, desperate to chase after Sasuke, but he took one look at Sakura who had crumbled over, who lay looking, reaching for Naruto's corpse as she began to wail in desperation. And he knew his decision. He reached down to Sakura, lifting her up in his arms..._

….........................................................................................

Kakashi snapped awake, gasping as his breathing was heavy, his heart racing from reliving the nightmare that had been reality. It was hard to relive his death, because it only opened pandora's box of his issues. Was he cursed to live alone? Was he bad luck for every teammate? Would he have to watch every single one of them die? He raked his hands through mussy bed head silver hair shaking off the superstitious thoughts. She had been gone for a week, jumped off the cliff. He knew she was alive, there was no doubt about that, although there had been when she'd first jumped.

Hell, maybe that was the problem in the first place. That he didn't know. That he wasn't sure. They had not found the body, nor any trace of her. Sakura was clever enough to hide the traces...if she had survived. It was driving him insane. Of course he felt a responsibility for her. It was only natural. But natural was far from the feelings he felt for the pinkette medic. He dug his hands into his silver tresses, pulling to relieve the tension from his heart and channel it to his head. He released, disgusted with himself, his hands still shaky. He rose from his bed, reaching for the flask he kept handy now at his bedside.

How long had be been haunted by these nightmares? He knew the answer and he didn't want to face that answer because that involved thinking of_ her_. Not surprising, he had totally botched that one up. He had betrayed her, as Tsunade had betrayed her only maybe worse. But she didn't understand...she couldn't understand...He growled low in his throat as he couldn't help but picture her. How long had he his feelings towards Sakura become less than friendly and more than any teacher should reach for? He placed his chapped lips on the flask, drinking, choking on the rough burning taste of old whiskey.

The alcohol flooded his senses ,pleasantly numbing him, as he drank more, chugging the flask down in his second gulp. It cooled as it numbed him, burning in his belly, and the aftertaste down his throat. Wasn't this how her chakra felt when she touched him?

He flinched on the thought. Sakura....Sitting here in agony was going to do him no good. He was useless to the cause, had been fighting illness and fever since fighting the remainder of Danzou's men, sent to finish the job when they had discovered Ratsu hadn't come back. Kakashi had barely come back alive, dragging Sai's unconcious body with him. Danzou had thrown a significant amount of his force at them, but none had lived to tell the tale. Sai's secret was safe, if he could rouse him, and send him back to Danzou's lair to report on the happenings. Kakashi's eyes narrowed again as he thought of the purple eyed monster.

Wherever Ratsu, had disappeared to, it was not back to Danzou to lick his boots and wounds. Not that Danzou would forgive such a grevious error as his untimely failure, but it couldn't have hurt to try and it would have been better for him and Sakura if he had. Ratsu was far more dangerous as a wild card and an unexpected nuisance than he was under Danzou's leash. Not that he would be able to do much without the use of his arm, but desperate times made people even more deadly in Kakashi's experience. He was living proof of that.

Stumbling on his feet, having drunk far more whiskey than he'd thought, and on an empty stomach and dehydrated no less, Kakashi's head spun a little. He hated the feeling of being drunk. The smell of alcohol. This was a negative coping mechanism, one he recognized well from past experience. Shuddering Kakashi remembered with startling detail how his mother had dealt with his father's death, the start of her downward spiral and eventual death. He would not crawl into a bottle. And he would no longer sit back and do nothing anymore. He wasn't content to let things and people pass him by any more. Angry with no outlet, Kakashi stumbled down the stairs managing not to break his neck in the process. Things couldn't wait and it was only getting worse. He had to find Sakura. He would talk to Tsunade now.

….......................................................................................

Sakura jolted awake, jade eyes small and hard as she gazed around her. To relieve that experience in her dreams again...She shivered, arms wrapping around herself in a self consoling manner.

Itachi's Sharingan eyes regarded her with his collected calm. Those eyes felt like they were probing, dissecting her emotions trying to discypher what she wasn't willing to share and she recoiled from it, from him, trying to hide her eyes, her facial features from him. She rubbed her eyes, feeling the strain of what she guessed must be purple stains and bags beneath them dragging them down. She was so tired.

"It's time we were on our way. Hunter nin are in the area and it's best if we avoid detection" He told her quietly.

It was unsettling to say the least being in his company, much less having him look at her so. Itachi didn't need to sleep, and he didn't need to eat, so he set a grueling pace one that even as an anbu captain she had trouble holding. Of course this also meant that anyone pursuing would have trouble keeping up. It also meant that when she slept her kept guard, never seeming to move from his spot. They had been traveling for a week now and Sakura was low on morale. Just how long he had been sitting there staring at her she couldn't know. She didn't want to know. There was something off about the way he looked at her and she didn't know why, but she didn't like it. It was too sincere for someone such as him. Itachi wasn't the kind to wear his heart in his eyes and on his sleaves.

"Right" She replied wearily, she didn't need to hide her fatigue from him.

"I know that you are tired, but it won't be for much longer. We are less than a day from rain." Itachi told her, managing to even sound sympathetic about it.

"And Madara has your real body within rain?" Sakura returned as she groaningly got to her feet. She was sore, a hardened campaigner like herself _sore_, from their travels. No one would be following or catching up to them anytime soon. Her body could attest to it, if she even made it to rain alive.

"Yes. He would keep it close to keep from the Kabuto Orochimaru hybrid from getting it." Itachi replied eyes darkening as his fists clenched. Sakura watched the rare display of temper. She had never seen anything upset him this much. Granted she had very little experience with Itachi, but from even her short time traveling with him she had rarely seen such display of emotion from him...Aside from her personal safety.

"I don't understand. Why? Why would he care if Kabuto took it?" Sakura asked him, using her palms to rub her eyes, trying to stay awake. This was important, she needed this information while he was willing to talk and she couldn't afford to sleep through it.

Itachi grimaced. "He considers it a personal trophy attesting to his greatness. He saw my death as a great victory for his plans" Itachi replied sourly.

Bitterness from Itachi wasn't unanticipated per say, but she didn't think he would be so... so open about his feelings. _Maybe its because it's you he's talking to..._She felt the blush beneath her cheeks and fought for a straight face. She didn't want to think of that, because that made things far more complicated and muddy than they needed to be. Clearly there was some history between them and clearly Itachi was in some way trying to oppose Madara, but the question was what would he have disagreed with? As far as Sakura knew, Itachi had more than willingly killed his clan and then proceded to jump on board the akatsuki band wagon after, until his death at Sasuke's hands.

"Tell me, why would Madara be angry enough at you, another Uchiha member to want you dead _and_ to keep your body around?" Sakura asked him eyes narrowed.

Itachi paused. Should he tell her? Could he tell her without revealing everything? Lying to her simply wasn't permitted. Irritated by the remnants the kyuubi bearer had left on him, he settled. It was what it was, and he could do nothing to change it for the moment. He needed to focus on the task at hand. He would tell her what she needed to know. It would be to protect her, to keep the rest of the information from her. She simply wasn't ready to hear it yet. Justified, Itachi took a sharp breathe, his air vivid in the colder temperatures, getting colder the further they traveled north.

"Madara was the one to help me, the night my clan was murdered." Itachi told her. "I could not have done it, without his help." Itachi admitted.

Sakura's eyes widened.

"and I stayed in Akatsuki, having no where else to go after abandoning Konoha. Madara trained me, teaching me many secrets about the Sharingan and our clan. I grew more powerful, far more powerful than he ever anticipated. He became afraid of me, afraid of how far and fast I was advancing. He felt that I was a threat to Akatsuki and what he was after; which was the jinchuriki. Madara had been searching for a way to kill me, when he found Sasuke." Itachi told her.

"Madara used Sasuke...." Sakura's mind was turning with the news.

Not for the first time did Itachi wonder what the pinkette felt for his foolish little brother. Surely after marrying Naruto and his brother killing her love, she couldn't still feel for him? He shook off the treacherous thoughts. His brother was meaningless in this conversation and the sooner he finished with it the sooner he wouldn't have to think about him.

"Sasuke was Madara's newest toy pawn, after killing me, he hoped to use the anger and hatred my brother had and unleash it upon Konoha and his enemies. He nearly succeeded." Itachi told her.

"Nearly? I thought Sasuke had attacked Konoha on Madara's orders." Sakura replied, with surprise.

"He did not account for Sasuke's disobedience to his own authority. Sasuke would never serve anyone; much less someone as vial and sick as Madara. Sasuke did what he wanted, using Madara to further his goals until he was done with him. Sasuke turned on him, crippling him, and threatening to finish the job if he ever crossed him. So Madara has sat in rain, on an empty throne, his ambitions destroyed with the Kyuubi's death, since that day"

"I don't even know this information. How did you come across it?" Sakura asked, eyes narrowing.

Itachi regarded her simply.

"I told you I had made preparations for this, Sakura. You didn't think I would decide something so hasty without first doing some research. I needed to know what happened after my death, and it just so happened that being a slightly insubstantial ghost of sorts suited my endeavors." He told her, looking her in the eyes.

"There's something you're not telling me" Sakura said heisitantly testing the words on her lips, as she tested him, staring back.

Itachi sighed. He had forgotten how insightful she could be at times. He needed to draw suspicion away from the truth, without lying to her. The subtle nuances he navigated for the girl, and no other, were grating on his nerves. She was too close, too familiar, too intelligent for his comfort. He needed his real body back. Perhaps in his real body he could fight this claustrophobic need to have her by him, to touch and kiss and taste her; to cherish and protect her. It was ridiculous and becoming gratingly annoying with her proximity.

"You will find that will always be the case, Sakura. My counsel is my own, and I do not have to explain my actions or motives to you." He replied haughtily. She couldn't understand, couldn't question him further. He had limits and this girl was exceeding them.

"The hell you don't. I have sacrificed everything I have for this reve-" Sakura began her tiredness making her angry. He hated how even that detail did not slip from his mind. He couldn't write her off, couldn't ignore the emotions that flickered beneath the surface of that lovely face But he couldn't let her continue.

"This is justice, Sakura, not revenge. Be very careful how you term this partnership of ours. And anything you feel you have earned, has been reaped already by me saving your life. You will not manipulate me into giving up more information than I am ready to share. As I said previously, you will discover it all in time. Be patient with the process, because trust is given as it is gained." Itachi rebuked sharply.

"You worked against Konoha and you're leading me to the man who wants Konoha's destruction, how do I know you aren't betraying me to him?" Sakura replied, hands on her hips as she glared.

"Because I would sooner die, my current form sent to the darkest hell, than allow that to happen" Itachi replied, eying her meaningfully.

Sakura scowled, cheeks flushing at such words, hating that he meant them, that she couldn't ignore the way her stomach dropped on such an admonition, turning from such a heated look from those eyes. "I don't believe you..." She muttered unconvincingly.

"Then let me put it in a way that you can understand it." Itachi retorted irritated by her attitude. "There is no love lost between I and Madara, and he has my body currently. That should suffice for you enough to believe that I will not betray you to him. Rather I need you, so loosing you to him would be both our losses." Itachi told her.

Just because she couldn't understand the intricacy and delicacy of the situation at hand didn't mean he had to put up with her attitude on the subject matter. She was naïve in every sense of the word and he hated his situation all the more for it.

Sakura blinked. What he said made sense, too much sense which is why she was worried. All of this information was coming at her too fast to truly process it all and take it in. Situations like this usually spiralled out of control precisely because of the lack of control, of thinking through decisions. Sakura's frown deepened but she couldn't mention her suspicions to him. He wanted his body back, that much she could buy into, enough to practically kidnap her, and force her along on this journey with him. The rest of it? Sakura simply wasn't sure.

But she had no one to voice her suspicions to. No one to trust but herself in this instance. Ugh. This was so annoying!

"Are you ready now? Or need we waste more time?" Itachi asked, tone emotionless, but eyes condescending.

Sakura glared, but he ignored her, setting off an an unsettling pace. Groaning in agony, Sakura forced herself to keep up. If he could gather information being what he had admitted to as insubstantial...then how could she see him? How come she was the only one who could see him. Feeling her stomach roll at the thought, Sakura's ill ease grew, as the rain began to fall. Rain. They were in the country of rain. _Madara..._


	10. A Family Reunion

AN: Moving these to the bottom

"_If you don't believe in ghosts, you've never been to a family reunion."__ -_Ashleigh Brilliant-

Sakura felt the weight of where she was hit her full force. This was where Jiraiya had died, where Akatsuki had truly been birthed. Where Orochimaru had developed and perfected his freakish ambitions and creations before branching off to create sound. Where Sasuke had once and for all dedicated himself to darkness. This place was haunting, scarring and wretched in it's industrial grey. If Konoha held all the good and hopeful ambitions for their world, or at least for her own, and the way of the ninja, then this scary village encompassed the darkness, the progressive as the expense of it's people; the very worst of it all.

Sakura shivvered, her own reflection in the puddle of water accumulating beneath her boots scaring her. In spite of her fears, it was a brilliant idea. Her clone, the exact replica of Pein walked alongside herself, henged as Konan, the only female Akatsuki member. Sakura didn't know the dark eyes that stared back at her. She didn't want to. Shaking off her superstitious thoughts of the walking dead, she focused on not loosing Itachi in the crowds.

The people parted for them, startled by the sheer sight of them. They had not been seen in rain since Pein's defeat so many years ago after his nearly destroying Konoha. Though years had passed it was apparent that they were not forgotten. These people's eyes held the reverence and the fear these two much has invoked in them. It was clear that the people still knew who Konan and Pein were, and the people kept their distance, all but stumbling to get out of their way as they retreated to the safety of their locked doors. Itachi led the way and Sakura's frown deepened.

The mystery he was never ceased to astound her. How was she able to see Itachi when no one else could? He didn't bump into people, but he had to move quickly to avoid it and that much was clear. No one made eye contact with him, and he wasn't looking at them, focused solely on his task. She couldn't tell. Could the people of rain see him? But Sakura knew better than to ask. Itachi would no sooner tell her, in fact he had evaded her questions from the start. But there were other reasons she couldn't open her mouth. From what she knew, Konan said little, and though the henge was a good one, her voice would ruin the effect as she couldn't even begin to fake a voice she'd never heard.

Itachi knew the streets well, turning and twisting through the alleys, but this was not surprising. Rain country had been Pein's headquarters and thus Madara's as well. Itachi had probably roamed these streets since his youth, involved with Akatsuki and scheming since adolescence. Startled, Sakura realized that Itachi had probably been all over the world, in his battles and prowess even in his short years of life before...well...before Sasuke had gone and ruined everything. How much had been lost, broken by that single pendulum swing? By Sasuke once and for all avenging his clan before completely loosing himself to the darkness within. The hatred between brother and brother had never shaken her more.

Rain gave her little comfort, if any at all. It was cold, wet and nothing seemed to keep her dry enough and warm enough. Nothing could make the droplets on these metallic made buildings seem quaint. Sakura had never been so far from home for so long. She had gone on missions, extended missions but there was always the thought of going home, of having something to go home to, to keep the edge off, to keep her wits about her. It was stupid of her, to miss the green forests and warm days of Konoha at now of all times. She had left them. She had walked away.

She had chosen this and yet she couldn't help but feel discouraged. She missed Yamato sensei and his cheerful disposition, even his awkward and scary faces. She missed Sai and his stupid comments, his general lack of social grace. She missed Tsunade, who wouldn't tolerate her excuses and pushed her to expect more from herself. She missed Shizune whom she'd joke with about Tsunade's drinking binges. She missed Ino who would chat her ear off with the latest social gossip, and who was now bigger than she was, glowing with joy, her first child.

Most of all, she missed Kakashi. She missed having a companionable presence, someone to talk to and to cheer her up and on as she went about her mission. She missed his lopsided stroll and his cloth covered mask. She missed his quiet intelligence. He would know what to do, how to deal with Itachi. Homesick, Sakura gazed miserably at the rain about them. It smelt different here, the trees and the rain pouring down washing away the muck from the gutters. The streets were dirty, and the sky was grey and dark, threatening thunderstorms.

This situation was far beyond her comfort. It was spiraling out of control. Sakura had always been something of a control freak. She was meticulously organized. It was one of the reasons why she was so intelligent, why she loved research. She wanted to learn the variables to be in control of the situation and her own bearings. She loved knowing. It was one of the reasons why she wanted to be stronger, because she hated being helpless. She wanted the power to stop being powerless. This situation was beyond any comfort. And it was chaffing, as time went on. Sakura clenched her jaw, tired, sore, and ready to face Madara simply to stop worrying about it.

It was disconcerting to say the least. The Uchiha patriarch was crippled, powerless against Sasuke to stop him. They were heading straight to the Demon head himself, to his private lair to consult with him. Itachi was going to force Madara to give up his body. How Sakura couldn't begin to guess, but she supposed with him being crippled that made him far less dangerous. But was that stupid of her to underestimate him so much? She bit her lip. Could he protect her from Madara? Itachi for whatever reason needed her, clearly if only to get back into his body, but then what? What would happen when he was completely substantial? Would the apparition she was with right now be any different in physical form? There were too many variables for her to feel comfortable. She knew from looking at Itachi and the way he treated her, that he meant his words.

_ "Because I would sooner die, my current form sent to the darkest hell, then allow that to happen" _Itachi had told her in regards to her safety.

She knew he meant those words. She just didn't understand what exactly those words meant. Context was everything, and anything from what she had or understood in regards to the raven haired sharingan user. Could she trust those words? Was she being stupid to trust in them? Did going along with him mean she already had?

Itachi stopped at a wall with protruding pipes building up a tower line in this modern marvel of a city. No wonder the people felt like he was a god. He had taken them from a third world economy smack dab into the industrial age. The fumes that smoked from their collossal empire made this haze over the city, like some ill omen, this fog spilling out into the ninja world. What were they producing inside this monster of a building? This was the tallest building in all of rain.

"Is this it?" Sakura asked him, eying the rust caked pipes. This city, this building in the midst of the capitol, was cold and decaying, as Madara himself. She supposed it was fitting.

He nodded as he bit his finger, smearing the blood across the wall as his hand flashed through seals in a fury. Sakura's eyes widened. What he had just done indicated, that in some way he had form and substance. He had blood...but he had told her before that he was flesh and blood. He could access his chakra to be able to do this, so the real question was_ how_ did he have form?

The wall changed from his summoning, responding to the blood and the chakra. It spiraled spinning into an Uchiha symbol, the sharingan eyes and the fan staring back at her, and Itachi pulled the door open. Sakura didn't miss the wince, his hand on the handle.

"Did it hurt you?" She asked, drawing near to him, concerned despite herself. Her hand tentatively reached out and his met her own, enfolding her hand in his, surprised by the contact.

…...

"I'm fine." He told her, though her hand in his own made that statement something less than true. His thoughts darkened. The timing couldn't be more wrong. This place, of all places, was a dangerous time to loose focus, even if it was to Sakura. Her protection came first in all things.

"The door demands blood to enter, Sakura. Madara will know we are coming, if he hasn't already presumed with our henge." He told her, eyes on her own as he brought her hand up to her lips and kissed it.

Sakura blushed, feeling the darkening of her cheeks, but this was his way of keeping her off guard. He was trying to keep her from probing. He was wrong. He wouldn't distract her from asking questions.

"How is it possible for you to touch me, and for you to give up your blood when you technically have no form?" She asked him stopping. His hand hung in her own, pulled to a stop by their bond.

Itachi made no answer, tugging her forward.

"Itachi?" Sakura repeated, digging in her heels. He would answer her.

Itachi sighed. "I have form, but it requires a great deal of concentration and chakra to hold it" Itachi replied.

"So you're a spectre?" Sakura asked. "Are you some sort of jutsu to summon?"

"I am not a ghost, or a summons, Sakura. Ghost cannot have substantiality, ever, remember? And who would summon me?" Itachi told her, turning to face her.

"And yet you do...when you want to." Sakura scowled. "And the blood?"

"...I used... an illusion on you, Sakura" Itachi replied refusing to look her in the eye, turning as he made to continue forward into the dank cave.

"How could you use an illusion on me without substance?" Sakura demanded. "Are you a puppet? Is Madara controlling you?" Sakura's eyes widened.

"Stop panicking and use your intelligence. I am not a puppet. I never said I didn't have substance. It just takes a lot of effort to hold it." Itachi replied crossly.

"ARGH!" Sakura cried, throwing her hands in the air. "What kind of illusion? _Why_ would you do something like that? How can I trust you?" Sakura demanded frustrated with him as she ripped her hand from his.

Itachi sighed. "I had some of my blood, and used the sample I had from a test tube to smear it." Itachi replied, hating himself just a little for being unable to lie to her. It would make things so much easier if he could...Damn the kyuubi bearer wherever he rested now.

"Test tube? How do _you_ have some of your own blood? You're dead, oh _wait_, only you're not because you're standing here in front of me having a perfectly legitimate conversation, and holding my hand and kissing me at random intervals whenever you find convienent!" Sakura demanded, mind reeling at the implications.

Itachi sighed. "I still have chakra, Sakura, so I can still use it. I just have no chakra signature." Itachi replied.

"and no heart beat and apparently no blood. You didn't answer my question, Itachi. Stop avoiding my questions!" Sakura demanded.

"I used the genjutsu because I didn't want you asking these questions in the first place, Sakura" Itachi's tone darkened, obviously irritated but too well bred to show it "I wanted to protect you. Maybe I wanted to protect myself. I'm not used to telling people my plans, or actions." He told her.

The sheepish tone in his voice forced her anger down. It was a tone she had never expected from him and a tone that she was more than susceptible to. It was the same tone her boys on team seven had when she'd chided them for similar stupidity, angry as hell. They just didn't seem to realize she needed to know the information to be able to save their lives with it. Much good it had done her in the end...She swallowed, trying not to choke on the painful memory.

"In answer to your previous question; There were other ninja that were able to get a hold of my blood from my previous fight with Sasuke." Itachi replied.

Sakura's eyes widened. "H-how?" Who would want his blood? And why?

"Someone was able to put Amaterasu out. If it was not Madara, then it was Sasuke himself. Those are the only two with the ability that I know of." Itachi's eyes hardened. "Thus Madara was able to retrieve my body and my blood must have been left behind. Someone got a sample of it." Itachi replied

"For what purpose? What could they do with your blood?" Sakura asked, horrified.

"These particular ninja were trying to clone it, to create Uchiha eyes for reproduction and business on the black market." Itachi replied. "Needless to say they are no longer living."

Sakura's head spun with the implications. "Was this what you were doing before you met _me_? Taking out anything and anyone that was doing such things?" Sakura demanded.

"Yes." Itachi looked in her eye, and then looked away, apparently ashamed. Sakura was flabbergasted.

"Why?" She asked swallowing hard. She didn't understand this, couldn't understand this. Couldn't understand him. What was he thinking? Was he tricking her, trying to fool her into thinking something was there when it wasn't? Why would he lie to her and then come clean about it?

_Maybe he really means it..._

"Why are you going to such lengths to keep me out?" Sakura asked him, confused.

"Drop the henge, Sakura." Itachi interrupted. The cave was damp and cold, unsurprising with rain's weather. Torches attached to the wall ignited, lit the path before them. Clearly someone knew they were here.

"Why?" Sakura demanded, scowling.

"Because I do not want to look at Konan." He replied.

"That was not what I meant and you know it!" Sakura scowled dropping the henge as she glared at him. There was no point in keeping up their act, if_ he _knew they were here. Itachi's eyes heated, burning as they looked at her and he came closer.

"Because I can not lie to you, Sakura." He told her, placing a stray pink tendril behind her ear  
"though you have no unfathomable idea of how much I'd like to" He told her, eyes never leaving hers. "and I'm uncomfortable with how close you are, though I know practically nothing about you." He told her truthfully, drawing closer to her.

Sakura gasped as he drew even closer, retreating only to feel the icy chill of the door of the Uchiha at her back. The cave stretched on before them.

"It doesn't seem like it." Sakura said, swallowing. "I feel like you're always one step ahead of me, even about myself." She said glaring at him. His eyes heated more, if that was possible.

"I'm uncomfortable with it too" Sakura admitted, swallowing at his proximity, looking away. "But it isn't my fault, Itachi. If you don't want this, then let's stop this before-" She gasped as she felt his mouth upon hers, burying his fingers in her hair, fingertips massaging her scalp as he tingled her senses with his sheer proximity.

Itachi had a presence, like black velvet and there was something so sensual about him, about the way he treated her, the way he looked at her. And there was a deep dark part of her that was just awakening, that he had awakened. That part of her reveled in it, in him and this dark desire that twisted around them, pulling them through. She shouldn't be wanting this, or him. But it felt so good to be wanted, to be viewed in those sharingan eyes as sexy, beautiful and alluring. The deep pull of desire that he had over her was strong, stronger than she was with admitting it and for once Sakura wanted to be impulsive, to plunge in headfirst without thinking. To relinquish control just for a minute...

Gasping, tongue meeting his, he dipped into her mouth, plundering as he took her without resistance. She hated him in that moment, hating that he tasted so damn good, felt so good against her. It shouldn''t have felt right, him touching her like this, kissing her so. She hadn't been touched like this, kissed like this _since...since..._Sakura flinched in his grip, twisting as she choked on the thought. But she didn't want to think of that, of _him_, because Itachi _wasn't_ him and being with Itachi made her feel something entirely different. She wanted to be distracted, suffocating beneath her grief for so long.

"Enough." Itachi's breathe was ragged against her ear. "It's clear enough that isn't an option for either of us." He told her.

"We need to continue-" Itachi lost track of his thoughts as Sakura's teeth dragged across his lobe, mouth dipping on his neck as she nipped, lapping with her tongue as he took a sharp breathe, all coherant thought went out the window at the pinkette's clever administrations. _Control_ he hissed to himself, mustering the strength though his body told him to send it all the abyss and give what she was wanting.

"Stop." He ordered through clenched teeth, hands on her shoulders. "We can't." He forced out. "Madara." He told her.

Sakura blinked, getting a hold of herself ,the healthy dose of reality sobering her up. Itachi was focused and disciplined on their task at hand and just what the hell was she doing?

_He wasn't so disciplined a few seconds before..._

It didn't matter. Flushing at her actions, he turned, walking down the lit torches. Sakura followed, fixing her clothing, feeling embarrassed and ashamed by her actions. She had never been so desperate. What had started out as harmless, was now deeper than she had ever wanted to go. Gods what was she thinking doing something like that with him of all people? This would only encourage him. She wasn't uncertain it would stop her.

"I'm sorry." Itachi told her as they walked, his footsteps barely making sound across the hard floor of the cave.

Sakura frowned. "For what?"

"For not being able to control myself. For making things...difficult between us." Itachi told her. "I did not mean to make you uncomfortable."

Sakura took a breathe. He wasn't afraid to talk about it at about it helped. "I-I didn't help it any either. I don't know if I can trust you yet, Itachi. I'm frightened by how quickly this is all happening." Sakura admitted.

"I _want_ you, Sakura and more damnably, I need you, but not forced." Itachi told her eyes composed though framed with desire.

Sakura blushed again and Itachi pressed further on into the cave to allow her to compose herself. They were close. Itachi's eyes narrowed, his fist clenched.

"Well, well, the grave isn't cold enough to keep you for long is it, Ita-kun?" The voice ushered. The voice was dark, bitter and cynical and cracked as if he was sick. Madara's long spikey tresses hung down, greasy and unwashed. His clothes were rumpled, black ninja gear on, but apparently unused in quite some time. His weapon hung uselessly by the chair.

"Madara." Itachi replied evenly, tone just as dark and cynical. There was no love lost on these two as he had said.

"I suppose you stopping in for a chat should be more surprising, but then again I knew you better than that. Like a cockroach, you just keep coming back" Madara snapped.

"Isn't it disappointing when one's work remains unfinished?" Itachi told him. "A pity."

Madara's eyes narrowed, the insult more poignant than either had anticipated.

"I knew killing you would never be so simple, which is why I used your brother to do it." Madara replied with indifferent smirk.

"You can see him?" Sakura interjected, surprised.

"You always underestimated me." Itachi retorted, cutting off Sakura's protest.

"Like you are doing right now, then, is it? You think that I'm going to roll over, and simply give you your body back. We'll you're wrong." Madara told him red eyes narrowed.

"You can not stop me." Itachi told him haughtily.

"Ah, but we are being rude to our guest. You brought the Godaime's captain in on this coupe un-doubtably to restore the present you to your body. To answer your question little one, yes I can see him. The Sharingan sees through all." Madara retorted with a cackle which turned into a hacking cough but those glittering eyes fixated on Sakura and she took a step back.

"You are hardly in a position to threaten me." Itachi's curt reply was deadly in it's intent as he stepped in front of Sakura pulling out a kunai as his mangekyou spun.

"Careful boy. I put up with your insolence for memories sake." Madara snapped, eyes hard and deadly as they glittered in rage.

"Your plans are no more. The kyuubi is gone, and your shot at gathering the jinchuuriki to reform the jubi to use against the ninja world is over. Whilst you sit here on your wet abandoned throne in rain, my brother terrorizes the country and grows stronger every day. You set him loose upon the ninja world, and you have a responsibility to put an end to it. If only for revenge" Itachi replied.

Madara laughed a deep and awful laugh, the kind of laugh that was borderline into shrieking, the kind of laugh that was too close to the sound of a board breaking, snapping in two. The kind of laughter that haunted as it resounded off the walls of his cold empty throne.

Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"You think to come to my country, my home and demand me to do something about the little brother who's life _you_ messed up and twisted with this little game you played, that you're still playing. You had a part to play in his darkness, Itachi and you know it well. You are looking for someone to blame."

"You are right. I was responsible for him becoming what he is today. I should have ended it, him when I had the chance. I was weak. And I paid the price for it with my life." Itachi told him.

"You are not the only one who paid that price." He commented idly looking to Sakura.

"And that is why I am going to set things right, by doing what I should have in the first place" Itachi said eyes straying to Sakura.

Madara looked intrigued.

"I am going to put an end to it, and you are going to help me." Itachi replied with conviction.

Madara grinned, a twisted horrible grin. "You want satisfaction."

"I want justice. I want my body back." Itachi retorted.

"And I want mine. I will not relinquish your body unless your little helper heals me." Madara struck the bargain, eyes wide with greed.

Sakura gasped and Itachi stepped in front of her. "No."

"No? NO?" Madara shrieked as he shakily rose to his feet, his legs skinny and wretched the bones having healed completely wrong and in all the wrong places. It was a miracle he could stand on them. "You are in no place to- Guggh!" Madara clutched at the hands wrapped around his throat his legs near useless as his hands clawed at him.

"You are in no position to question _me_, now of all times." Itachi said with deadly intent. "I have bled for you, sweat for you, killed for you. I sacrificed my soul, became a monster and gave up anything I had left of a childhood; you took that from me." Itachi's voice held the anger, the sheer hatred.

"I could finish you off here and now and merely take what I wanted, but I still have some form of remorse and pity... but you would do well not to try me." Itachi told him, voice colder than Sakura had ever heard it.

"R-remorse?" Madara wheezed and Itachi relaxed his hold just a bit.

"You saved my brother, even if he did turn into a monster, though I suspect you had a hand in it. That doesn't matter any longer. There is no trace of my brother left in that shell of a monster he is now. You will give me what I want because it, too, is what you want." Itachi told him, practically throwing him one handed back into his throne chair. Madara gasped eyes wide his back aching as he stared at Itachi.

"W-what I want?" He stammered gasping.

"You want Sasuke to pay. You want him to be brought low, like you were, when he crippled you and shattered you. I am the only way that will happen and you know it, clear as day" Itachi replied.

"What do you plan to do?" Madara demanded wretching as he choked. Sakura was paralyzed in place by their actions hardly believing what was going on in front of her eyes.

"I plan to take my eyes back." Itachi replied simply.

Madara's eyes went to Sakura and back to Itachi. He looked less than pleased, but the Uchiha patriarch didn't seem to have much of a choice.

"Will you kill him?" Madara asked.

"That is none of your business" Itachi replied. "Whether he lives or dies will not be decided by you. One way or another though, I will take back my eyes, and that should be enough for you." Itachi told him.

Madara's eyes took on a sick twisted gleam as he seemed to make a connection. Sakura's eyes burned. What did he know? What had he figured out.

"You're going to use her as bait. Be careful of this one, little Sakura. He will take you where you wont want to go, and then leave you to die, wriggling on a hook." Madara told her. "Its the way with him, with all Uchiha. They cannot love anything more than their ambition" Her told her cackling.

"You are a bitter cynical twisted old man who has been utterly defeated by everyone and everything and you have no idea what you are talking about." Itachi snapped.

"Indeed. I have only outlived you by centuries, boy. Heed my words little Sakura chan." Madara replied, wheezing as he caught his breathe.

" Enough of these games. I tire of them and you. Where is my body?" Itachi demanded.

"You know where your body is. After Nagato died, there was no use for that building and no one ever disturbed it, so it lay in ruins. I'm surprised you didn't break in yourself. Then again you always were one for family reunions" Madara replied.

"Good bye Madara. You should truly die in this life time, or I will help you along to the next world when I am done." Itachi told him.

"Goodbye Itachi. I hope you manage to kill you brother this time." Madara cackled, as Itachi left, eyes hard.

Sakura, shaken, followed after Itachi feeling the doubt. Itachi using her as bait? For who? And then Sakura felt numb, cold. There was only one person she could be bait for.

_Sasuke..._

* * *

AN: Sorry I've been gone so long this chapter just happened to give me a harder time than usual. Its been edited and rewritten and snipped and tucked. I've taken the best of my drabble and thrown it together for this chapter. Been super busy on the island and will continue to do so, so updates will be few and far between. This was a lovely little chapter with Madara though you must admit. I really enjoy writing Madara and Itachi interactions. I know everyone was expecting an epic show down but Madara simply doesn't have it in him. This fic will get far more busy as time goes by. Also I vow the next chapter will not end in an italic named character!


	11. Freedom

_"Our freedom can be measured in the number of things we can walk away from" -Vernon Howard-_

Itachi led the way rather quickly through the streets as the rain poured from the sky making the smell that much more unbearable. Rotten sewage, the trash scattered across the cobblestone walk ways. If he had been warm and cordial before, now he was cold, and as distant as the sky from the earth. He was angry, and walking as if he intended to loose her in the crowd. He nearly did.

The rain fell in miserable sheets, the grey closing in on them and overtaking the industrial city. Sakura was quickly soaked to the bone. It was crystal clear that he was upset by the line of tension in the middle of his back, his clenched fists practically shaking in concealed fury. She had never seen him like this, had never pictured him capable of the wave of emotions he so freely displayed for her. It made her want to trust him. It was exactly why she shouldn't.

"So...you used to work with Madara?" Sakura prompted, hoping that he would for once explain it to her. That somehow this would all be made right if he would only talk about it. Sakura was grasping at straws here. There was probably nothing that could straighten this twisted mess. She wanted to understand him and yet it hurt that he was holding her at arms length. As usual.

"Did you think I could pull off the culling of the entire clan _alone_?" Itachi snapped suddenly, surprising Sakura with the depth of his emotion, anger that only someone who had lived through it, experienced it with him, could have brought to surface. She had never heard this tone from him before and was bitter anger that faded into sorrow. This was what had etched the lines on his face prematurely.

"Of course I needed him. How else was I to manage such a feat?" He demanded of her, sharingan eyes flaring.

"Everyone except one..." Sakura replied hollowly, as she thought of the man who both of them loved and simultaneously hated.

Itachi visibly flinched and turned from her, redoubling his efforts for haste. Madara always had the uncanny ability to make him feel unclean, detestable and unworthy and he hated him for it, the insecurity it wrought in him that he'd thought he'd conquered so long ago. The man who had steered him through his icy adolescence was also the man to blame for the vast amount of turbulent emotional trauma he had. And he had brought Sakura into it, straight into the eye of the storm.

"Is what he said true?" Sakura asked.

Itachi felt the pain that question brought and he hated Madara all the more for actually succeeding in his plans of dissension. But what else was she to think, really? What more could he expect from her? He was angry that he had expectations in regards to her. But the truth hurt. They hadn't known each other long enough, and he certainly hadn't shared enough about himself. He had thought himself justified for it. He had feared he would reveal too much, and she would flee from him. Others had. But what he was doing now was seeming to be just as effective at driving her away. Damn it all.

He needed his body, needed to be sentient again, needed some sort of normalcy, a pulse just to confirm that the nightmare he'd been living was real, that he was still real. He wasn't sure how long he could be insubstantial but it felt like he was flickering, snuffing out completely. It was already draining him, taking a toll on his psyche being inbetween worlds. He wasn't going to be able to take much more of this emotionally physically or otherwise. It was taking everything he had not to be consumed by his own darkness. He could feel the pull of insubstantiality and being invisible was catching straining against him. But he had come too far to stop now.

"Is that all I am? Bait?" She finished, dark purple beneath her jade eyes making them all the more verdant, all the more poignant.

Itachi froze and turned to her, taking a sharp breathe as he controlled the raging emotions beneath the surface. The carefully sculpted apathy he had worn so non chalantly in his previous life was cracking, wearing thin and through in his semi translucent state and it was bitterly ironic that this mere slip of a girl, with bright obnoxious sakura pink hair, and such an open smile was the one to unhinge him so. He had the kyuubi bearer to thank for that, though didn't he? But as much as it irritated him, as much as it complicated things, he also couldn't seem to hate her for it.

Sakura took a step back assuming a defensive position as she started to crouch lower misreading him. Itachi for his part tried not to take it personally. His hand was gentle on her arm. She looked into those sharingan eyes, and she saw the depths of his feelings and it scared her, as it warmed her in this cold place. But This was foolishness and she knew that well. He wanted her disarmed, disengaged from who he really was. Her eyes knew nothing about him, and everything he said was merely to entangle her further. He wasn't actually trusting her, he was using her manipulating her like some piece on a shougi board.

Itachi saw the look and fought to hide the hurt he felt at her lack of faith. She wasn't the only one who hated feeling helpless. Those eyes rendered him useless to any other task. These feelings scared him, made him weak, weaker than he already was without a body. He had never felt so strongly for anything before in his life, aside from kin, and responsibility, but neither of those things were like this. He loved his brother and he loved his country, but kin and country didn't make him _burn_, make him _want_ like this.

To say it was all lust would be a travesty to the emotions he held or perhaps the kyuubi bearer had held for him. He wanted more. He wanted her and it led him to desperation as he struggled for the words to say, to keep her with him. And it frustrated him, chaffed him more than anything had, because he couldn't for the life of him explain why. He had never felt this yearning, this desperation when he lived aside from insuring Sasuke's life, but never his own, and never for anyone else. Perhaps dieing had changed him, but he doubted that, so much as Naruto's interference. How had the Kyuubi bearer dealt with the intensity of these feelings all those years? Was there some sort of strength found in him that Itachi was lacking?

"You may not believe me when I say it, but I will tell you about it-them- the incident." He told her swallowing hard. "I've never spoken about this." Itachi struggled with words, a new sensation for him as he hung on her every expression.

Sakura regarded him suspiciously but it was clear with just how much he was struggling that this wasn't some farce. Or if it was, it was a damn good one.

"It's true that I killed my clan, my own parents, my cousin, everyone within the Uchiha with these hands of mine." Itachi said, eyes taking on a haunted look.

His face was firm, but his hand shook. He seemed to notice the movement and the slight frown in his face the movement ceased.

"But not once did anyone ever ask _why_ I did it. No one ever knew why, at least not the real reasons for it. Perhaps they didn't want to." Itachi told her. "No one knew that they were traitors planning to overthrow the Sandaime Hokage, and to betray the leaf; to overthrow Konoha and gut the village for it's wealth and prosperity in the midst of the ninja wars." Itachi told her.

Sakura could scarcely believe her ears, her eyes wide. Itachi swallowed, hard continuing forward before she could fire off questions.

"I was under the order of the Sandaime Hokage to watch them, to be a spy amongst my own clan, to keep them from rebelling. My father wanted me to be the same for them, spying on the leaders of leaf because I was a captain and privy to classified information. My allegiance was clear; to my country, first and foremost." He told her, forcing his emotions down as he focused on the memory.

"You're telling me, that Sarutobi Oji, the Sandaime Hokage, asked you to kill your entire clan?" Sakura exclaimed incredulously.

"He didn't have to ask me, Sakura." Itachi told her, with a haunting expression. "_I _volunteered." He told her with certainty, his eyes meeting her own.

...  
Sakura's thunderstruck expression was real and also impossible to read. She was shocked to the core and she was unpredictable in this moment. She was so pale, all the lovely cream color had vanished from her face until she was as washed out as everything became in this town. She took a moment to process, taking all the information he'd given her in, and Itachi thought he would loose what little sanity he had left as he stood, letting the rain pour down on him in the back streets of Rain.

The only thought that continued to resound and taunt him was simple. _He had no proof_. The only other living person to be able to verify was the old man himself, dead, in advertendly, by Orochimaru's hands. Madara probably knew, but he would just as likely lie as soon as help him. If Sakura didn't believe him...What would he do? What would he _do_ if she left him?

"_Why_?" She rasped, heart rendering tone breaking as she looked at him with such sympathy. "Why would you do something like that? To your own family?" She pleaded tears in her eyes for him.

Itachi swallowed. He had to continue. Those eyes asked him to speak. To not be able to finish the tale he had started, to speak of what he had sworn a oath never to say in his former life...This too was unforgivable, but he needed to see it through to the end. He would finish what he set out to do.

"You know why I did it. The same reason you take your missions, the same reason you fight; to protect your precious people." Itachi told her with conviction.

"You killed your own flesh and blood! You joined Akatsuki! You killed good people! You tortured your brother as a child and might as well left him for dead after the mangekyou! You put him on the path of darkness and you're telling me you did it for your country?" Sakura demanded of him arms stretched wide in accusation and frustration. She couldn't understand this, couldn't understand him. What kind of love caused this much pain? This much sorrow?

"I was _weak_, Sakura and it was because of my weakness that this happened." Itachi told her, his tone soft but firm. He was not sorry for it.

"Weak? You were weak to slaughter everyone you knew and loved?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yes." Itachi replied and Sakura recoiled in horror.

"I lifted these hands of mine and bloodied them, sullied them so much that I ended the woman who had given birth to me, the father that had raised me and made me his heir. And inspite of being an anbu captain, of obeying every order ever given to me; I could not go through with it; I could not kill my own brother." Itachi told her, eyes holding the sorrow of the memory.

"I would hardly call that weakness, though I might call it sociopathic." Sakura replied trying to distance herself from him, from this.

"But it _was_ weakness, Sakura, with an assignment like mine. No Uchiha was supposed to walk away after that night and I could not face that many alone, so I sought out Madara's help." Itachi told her.

"How could you trust a snake like Madara?" Sakura demanded hating this, hating him in this moment. She felt trapped, suffocated and smothered.

"I had no other options left. They were going to revolt and things were moving too fast. I had to stop them. Though I loved my country and I would have done almost anything for leaf, he was my brother." Itachi replied quietly.

"So you tortured him and left him family-less instead. How considerate of you. What the hell is wrong with you?" Sakura cried.

"Though what I did was harsh, it was better than killing him. He needed to be strong to face the coming challenges. I knew Orochimaru would come after him. He needed an objective and a goal, and I provided him one. Even if it meant casting me as his enemy forever, I was willing to do that, to sully myself, and to be that for him." Itachi said, the passion, the dedication and the only other word she could see to describe it; the love he had for Sasuke coming through.

Gods he had dragged himself, his name through the mud, the blood and the rain for him...what terrible love she thought staring at him. What malevolent hatred.

Sakura took a deep rattling breathe, trying to get a grip on the magnitude of this news. Itachi had been ordered to commit the massacre? There was no other assumption she could make about him. He was acting in the interests of Konohaor so he claimed. Then this man truly was no longer her enemy if he was acting on the same side. The enemy of the enemy is a friend and thats what he had done, or so he claimed. Itachi was... leaf?

"Why Akatsuki? Why leave then if you were following orders?" Sakura demanded trying to make sense of the information he'd given her. Leaving only incriminated him. This was impossible, a ridiculous lie so far fetched he was thinking she would buy it. He was lying, no one would do something like this. But he didn't flinch as he spoke those words. He looked her in the eye. And What other explanation was there to explain this?

"Because I could not stay, Sakura. I should think that would be obvious." Itachi told her. "There was no more that I could learn from the Sandaime. I was a jaded... cynical after what I had done." Itachi replied.

"You ran away. You were ashamed." Sakura said in a hard tone, her arms crossing.

"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't want to face what I had done. Maybe I didn't want to see my brother's face and have to try to explain that his mother and father really were corrupt and planning on over turning the village and creating a ninja civil war and that I slayed them to stop it." Itachi replied tone equally harsh and reproachful.

It hurt, her attitude towards him. He sighed. She deserved better than this, than his anger. She deserved the truth.

"I left ultimately because I knew that Sasuke would never be able to look at me the same, that I could never go back after what I had done; but he would be _safe _until he could protect himself and I was satisfied with that. Danzou wouldn't touch him because he knew I still existed and Sasuke would be taken care of by the Sandaime and the rest of the village to be kept from Orochimaru. It was the best I could do."

"Bullshit! You could've stayed with him. You could have explained! You coul have kept him from going to Orochimaru" Sakura cried, feeling the tears at the situation. How could the sandaime have put them in this situation. How could he have done something so foolish? How could this have been allowed to happen?

"I am not God, Sakura. I have already taken so much from him. I could not take his right to choose. I allowed him to go to Orochimaru, just as I had chosen to become a missing ninja. It was his choice to make."

"You let him make the same choice you did. You let him walk into darkness" Sakura accused.

"Ours were completely seperate cases. I walked into darkness for his right to choose. Akatsuki was the only option I had aside from execution. The villagers would never trust me again after what I had done. I could never redeem my name, and I didn't want to stay. Akatsuki was the only way and it allowed me to keep an eye on high profile S classed criminals and report on their status."

"You were an informant?" Sakura exclaimed the new information alarming.

"How do you think Jiraiya got his information on Akatsuki? on rain? It was an informant I hired to lance the information to Konoha." Itachi told her.

Sakura's mind spun. It was too much, this was too much. He was too much. If she believed him...well didn't she already? She had seen his expressions. One couldn't fake that sort of agony, that sort of emotion lightly. But all of his sources were dead, long gone. There was no way to verify his words. There was no proof. This was why he had waited, why he had revealed them to her now, now when she couldn't get out, when he had her caught in his web, entangled in his darkness, too deep to get out.

"This isn't a manipulation to get you to stay Sakura." Itachi told her, practically reading her mind. "You asked me to tell you the truth, and I have, for better or worse." He said, eyes downcast on the last part.

"And yet you have ulterior motives for wanting this." Sakura snapped at the end of her rope. _For wanting me..._

"I need my body. He has my eyes. I have to stop him because I know now that I was wrong. He was given a chance to live and he ruined it, and maybe I ruined it for him from the start. But I can't leave him as he is, to wreak havoc on the ninja world, and neither can you. I am your best shot at justice, and I cannot do this without you" Itachi told her truthfully.

"Without your body, you mean. And after I get you back in your body assuming that's even possible, let me guess, you want me to be the bait? He'll kill me before you get that chance, Itachi." Sakura replied.

"No. He won't." Itachi told her, tone resolute. He was completely confident in his statement. It was too close for comfort, too personal for Sakura to accept it.

"You don't know Sasuke as well as you think you do" Sakura scoffed.

"He won't kill you, Sakura, but you know that as well as I do." Itachi insisted. "You're the same as he is now, something he realized the moment the Kyuubi bearer died." He told her.

"You have the same eyes he did before he was consumed by darkness. Why do you think he threatened you and then fled? Sasuke isn't one for idle threats." Itachi said, answering a question with a question.

Sakura's eyes widened and she whirled on him. "How could you possibly know that? I talked to no one about that day outside of Konoha. No one else was there..." Sakura demanded, grabbing him by his Akatsuki cloak. It was the weirdest experience because she could almost feel the fabric flicker between her grip in her hands as his eyes darkened. Itachi did not answer her statement, he pressed his own agenda, moving his face towards hers.

"He fled, he ran away from the perfect opportunity to cut all of his ties in one fell swoop, and you have not seen him since, Sakura. Did you ever stop to wonder why he didn't end it then and there?" He asked her, ignoring her own questions for his own.

Sakura shivered, trembled as she felt feint, weak at the thought. Naruto was the one Sasuke had always cared for, had always loved. But what Itachi said made her doubt herself. Why hadn't Sasuke finished the job that day? He had looked at her after Naruto had died. It was as if he was finally seeing her for the first time. Sakura felt numb, placid as all of his words sunk in and tore her world apart.

Itachi placed his arms gently around her, pulling her, enfolding her in his black and red cloak. The silk of it felt so good, so warm and damp around her. It smelled like him, like rain and storms, enticing and musky. How had this happened? How had she hungered for him like this? How had she become ensnared in something so deadly? She couldn't do this. Couldn't trust him like this. She pushed him back hard.

"No." She told him with finality. "You're a fool, Itachi." She told him, her words drawing blood. "and I'm not going to die for you." Sakura murmured, turning on her heel.

Itachi's face twisted and paled as her words found purchase. He looked as if he had been struck, and he nearly choked on the breathe he had been holding. Sakura was uneasy as she stared at him. She backed away from him, antsy and desperate to keep her distance. He made to move forward, and then his form began to flicker.

"Sakur-" He exclaimed darted his hand forward, and very suddenly vanished into thin air.

Sakura blinked, rubbing her eyes. "I-Itachi?" She called. No answer. The dark haired Uchiha was no where in sight. Sakura didn't .

"Itachi?" She called once more for all extensive purposes but she hadn't expected anything to come of it. Her expectations didn't let her down.

Methodically, she searched for his ki. Not that she could sense it before anyways, but this was what a ninja did when loosing a comrade in enemy territory and Sakura was nothing but methodical, finding comfort in the practicality of it, to keep her from panicking, or at least trying to. If this was some sort of a bad joke on his part she didn't find it funny and she would give him what for when she found him. Then she searched the radius she'd last seen him scowering within a hundred yards of their last rendezvous, as she avoided people by donning her henge again.

It was in the next hour that she had found no trace, no forensic evidence of any sort, not even an inkling of where he could have possibly disappeared to, that Sakura began to tremble, her breathes coming in quick short gasps as panic took over. He had for lack of a better word or description; simply vanished into thin air. Had he been a ghost after all, an apparition? Was she crazy? _No_. She had seen him, had felt him, tasted him. He wasn't here and she didn't have a clue where he could have gone.

It wasn't a summoning, there was no chakra residue of any sort for her to trace and he didn't even have a chakra signature. No hair or other physical traces that he'd even been there, no marks left from the spot where he had left from. So what the hell was she supposed to do now? Was there a chance he was truly dead? Panic set in, and Sakura gasped, feeling the attacks constricting her lungs and movement. Leaning against the wall, dizzy with panic and fear, she tried to collect herself to no avail.

She had done everything by the book. She had searched for any evidence she could possibly have gathered. He was gone. He was _gone;_ completely and entirely without a trace. She had no earthly idea of how desperately she had needed him until he had left her standing in the alleyway alone. Sakura stumbled. What plan could possibly be formed, that would work against Sasuke, without him? Squads of anbu had died at his hands, stratego's and intelligence operatives had worked for years to try and get a shot at him. She didn't have a fucking prayer without him, and through her questioning and antagonistic statements, she had made him vanish into thin air.

Nauseous at the thought, she righted herself on shaky feet as she continued to stalk up and down the block of the alleyway they had been in, trying to compose her thoughts. Until she felt the slice come at her from behind. Blood sprayed in the streets of rain.

Sakura fell, darting to the side as her healing chakra went to work on her backside, kunai in hand as she sliced through whatever it was that had attacked her, able to catch the movement out of the corner of her eye. She staunched the blood flow, unable to hone in on the ki of her assailant as she scrambled up the alley and threw herself over into the next alley as bricks crashed behind her, nearly landing on her head as she fumbled her landing, breaking into a run. She glued herself via chakra to the building, crawling back up it in zig zags, as she turned her head back finally getting a good look at her enemy.

Paper hawks were chasing her, two from above and two from below. She rounded the corner, throwing her shuriken and slicing through the two below. The top left hawk dove with lightning speed, whittling towards her. She tried to slice it, but the hawk saw it, controlled by it's puppeteer, and cut in, hacking into her shoulder, rewarding her failure with a slash on her head as she crouched avoiding them again. Sakura swore, the implications clear. The paper that moved with a life of it's own could only mean one thing. _She's here. _

Paper rose, like a tidal wave after her, as Sakura scrambled up a sky scraper of industrial rust, pieces breaking off as the paper consumed them behind her. They didn't even slow it down, paper swirling around it. Reaching in her pouch, she pulled a scroll from it, throwing it open and out as she doubled her haste.

"KaguTsuchi" Sakura murmured, throwing herself into free fall off the side of the building.

She turned in mid flight to see the success of her attack. Flames burst into the air, the swollen fire belly, expanding before exploding, igniting the paper in huge tendrils of pyrotechnic flair as she hurtled closed to the ground. She flipped through the air, slowing her descent as she landed on the rooftop without breaking stride.

She jumped down the alleyway and landed, bruising her feet on impact. Gasping for breathe she saw the figure standing before her, thousands of sheets of paper encircling her as the woman flapped her falsified paper wings as more of the fibrous and deadly filament fell from the sky.

"Konan..." Sakura murmured.

"You have precisely three seconds to drop the henge before I sever you limb from limb" She stated. Her tone was neither cold nor warm, like this woman's gaze.

Sakura did as she was asked and dropped the henge, green eyes glaring defiantly as they stared upon the sole female akatsuki member.

Konan did not seem surprised. "You." She murmured with recognition though how she knew her, Sakura had no earthly. "Why are you here, now, at a time like this?" She questioned, paper settling around her. Her chakra, while still easily accessible was now no longer hostile.

Sakura blinked, not expecting this from the pierced pale woman in front of her. It was as if konan had been expecting her all along. She eyed her wearily, confused but not wanting to let her guard down.

"I was looking for someone. I wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible." She replied carefully.

"Then you chose the wrong henge. Nagato might be dead, and Madara might be crippled, but I still have full reign of my senses and mobility. I do not take lightly the idea that someone is walking around imitating me. So I will ask you only once; Who are you searching for?" Konan told her full voice sharp as a kunai.

Sakura scowled. If she mentioned Itachi's name it could either save her or condemn her, but in either case it might buy her some time to escape.

"Uchiha Itachi." Sakura replied, faking more confidence than she felt puffing out her shoulders as she stared the older woman down.

Konan's eyes widened a fraction, and Sakura was surprised as the paper fell to the floor completely docile as she turned. Konan, pein's partner, a woman a thousand times more formidable, had turned her back on Sakura. She could scarcely believe what was happening.

"Follow me." Konan's voice echoed to her from the alleyway.

Sakura's jaw dropped and she avoided stammering as Konan led the way.

"What-"

"Not here. It isn't safe." Konan replied, flapping her wings and taking flight.

Sakura was about to protest her own lack of aerial ability when the paper beneath her feet surged forward and she stumbled backwards. She was riding a massive white paper crane and she was forced to use chakra to keep her from falling off of it. Eyes wide as they flew up into the grey, they sailed over the rusty industrial capital.


	12. When the Game is over

Music of the update: "Feel" Marie Digby

"_When the game is over the king and the pawn will go into the same box" -Italian Proverb-_

The steps were rickety up the tall tower, the sound of metal scratching on metal enough to make one scream, but Sakura grit her teeth and followed after the formidable Akatsuki member with persistance. She wasn't going to be outdone by the cloaked woman. Sakura was no light weight. She was an anbu captain and S class herself with her own prowess and reputation in the bingo books. Still, Konan's presence was a jolt. She hadn't been seen or heard of from years, not since Naruto had defeated pein and here Sakura was following her.

"You may speak now. We are safe, here..." Konan said as they rounded the last set of stairs, a fact for which Sakura was grateful.

"What do you know about Uchiha Itachi?" Sakura began hesitating on the topic.

Konan's dark eyes bored into Sakura's with a knowing smirk. _She can read everything about me_ Sakura thought as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle in panic. This woman was dangerous because she had cunning intuition.

"I don't think that is the question you really wanted to ask me" Konan began with a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. Sakura shifted uncomfortably under that gaze that did not relent.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that" She murmured, nearly reaching for her hair before she realized how foolish that made her look. Green eyes hardened to jade.

Konan's look told her that the blue haired woman knew better than that. There was a kindred spirit, a compassion within her gaze that she guessed was rarely there for others to see. Sakura didn't feel comforted, she felt patronized and her pink brows furrowed in annoyance.

"I've known him since he was an adolescent, having recently defected from Konoha so we have known each other for quite some time." Konan replied. "but this is not what you want to know. What you want to know is how much I know of the current situation, which is quite a bit." Konan's tone was impossible to discern. Sakura felt her annoyance grow.

"I know that he did not die at his brother's hand. I know that he was looking for you because he believed that you would be able to return him to his rightful body to stop Sasuke and his rampage across the ninja world." Konan told her with her low voice, eyelashes kissing those cobalt blue eyes.

"I don't understand-" Sakura began.

"Of course you do. You needn't play stupid for his sake." Konan told her. "This is the building that holds his body. Why else did you think I'd brought you here?" Konan interrupted with a condescending tone Sakura didn't particularly appreciate. "After Akatsuki collapsed at Madara's defeat, and Nagato's death, and Madara's take over of rain, I retreated into the shadows of the ninja world. It was Itachi that found me." Konan told her.

Sakura's eyes widened. Itachi had spoken about_ her_ to Konan? What else did this woman know?

Konan seemed mildly amused by the expression which only served to grate on Sakura like paper through a shredder. "Itachi told me about his plans, just in case things did not go accordingly. All Uchiha, it seems, have a cat's ability to land on their feet. Itachi planned for the worst, but I hardly expected to run into you in such an obtruse way." Konan remarked.

Sakura half smiled. "Me neither." She confessed. "So if his body is here then what have I been talking to?" She frowned.

"Let us call it a shadow of himself, but his strength had been waning when he left to find you. It could not be put off for any longer." She told her.

"Put off?" Sakura said, eyebrows arching.

"The form Itachi took was never meant to be used for such an extenuated time. He was prepared for the inevitable, but his host died suddenly and unexpectedly. He was forced into the form you met him. He wanted to find you immediately but knew that things needed to be prepared. He could not hold out any longer." Konan told her.

"Things?" Sakura questioned eye brow arching.

"Do you think taking the ninja world from Sasuke would be easy? From Danzou?" Konan retorted. "Foolish girl, he couldn't come to you with nothing to offer. He had to bring something worth your time. You would have turned him down immediately had he come empty handed, and so he risked his essence to come to you with something else to offer.

"What do you mean his essence?" Sakura asked hating her concern and the sinking feeling in her stomach from this kunoichi's words.

"If you had to boil down chakra and ki, and spiritual energy and the passions, interests, and individuality of a person into something, philosophically and metaphysically speaking, you would be left with what we would be forced to call the essence of a person. Its what makes a person just that; a person; human."

Sakura looked skeptical.

"Its the place_ between_ the body and the soul. You don't seem to understand how brilliant he really was. Itachi was able to use his ninjutsu to do the_ impossible_, to have his foot in both worlds, to survive beyond his body. And every time he became tangible it was the equivalent of ripping him in two, taking a bit more of that essence. I'm not sure if you are aware of this little leaflet, but Itachi risked his very _existence_ just to find _you_." Konan accused, which told her tone indicating just what she thought of Sakura and his risk.

Sakura felt sick again as her words caught up with her. Itachi...

For Konan to know this much meant Itachi truly had planned this out. He hadn't lied to her. But Sakura was still numb. And hot white jealousy penetrated her to the core. How was it that this woman knew more about the situation at hand then she did? Why wouldn't Itachi tell her? What was between Itachi and this kunoichi that she was not privy to. Sakura bit her lip feeling the overwhelming guilt that spread at her selfishness. _Because you didn't believe him when he tried to..._

"So he disappeared?" Konan asked her suddenly. Sakura swallowed and nodded unable to look the woman in the eyes.

"Then he has reached his limits, as I feared. He left detailed instructions for you." Konan told her.

Green eyes regarded the formidable woman with a glint of defiance sparking in their emerald depths. Konan's smirk widened at the expression.

"It seems that you want to ask me something? Ask it" Konan told her almost haughtily. Sakura didn't want to take the bait. She paused and licked her chapped lips, deciding her words carefully.

"and what if I don't want to save him?" Sakura asked green eyes serene and serious.

"Then that is your decision to make." Konan told her. "But know this; there will be consequences for your decisions. You will answer to _me_ for it. Believe it or not, the ninja world needs him more than you could ever possibly know; I _need_ him." She added with conviction.

Her words shook Sakura. Hot white jealousy flared to life, where it had once only flashed beneath the surface. It boiled hot and true, ebbing through her veins, pulsing from it's long slumber. She was startled by the wave of emotion she hadn't realized she'd felt. It was pathetic, and greedy and selfish all at once.

"I realize it's difficult to believe little leaflet, but Itachi is not your enemy." Konan told her, eyes alight with something close to sympathy.

"I don't mean to be insulting but I cant exactly trust that from you." Sakura replied turning from her as she wrapped her arms around herself from the chill. She could hear the thunder outside of the building.

"That's because you wont." Konan replied, her voice disappearing down the hallway. "Read the instructions Sakura, and decide for yourself. I will return in twenty four hours for your decision. Time will not allow any more."

Sakura stared after the woman until she was convinced she was gone. Sakura had twenty four hours to mull it over. She rounded the corner of the doorway, entering into the large circular room as the ceiling opened up around her. The whole room encompassed the rusted metal that this city so loved. A light bulb flickered overhead casting dancing shadows. In front of her was most definitely a body with a white sheet over it. Sakura swallowed, and wondered if it was a good idea for her to see this. She gave an irritated sneer at her own foolishness and pulled the sheet over. A very naked Uchiha Itachi lay on the cold medical table. Sakura wasn't startled by a naked man. She was startled by what she saw.

No battle scars lined his body. This was an incredible feat for a ninja. Every ninja had scars. Even as a medical ninja there were still scars from her youth she could not remove. Some scars she didn't want to forget. But there was not a line or a wrinkle that marred his pale body. It was haunting, running her hands professionally over his dead corpse. She ran her fingers over the hairs on his arm, making her way to his fingers. He was cold to the touch and inhuman. While he had no scars, there were still callouses along his palms and fingers. Truly a ninja.

It felt errie, for only hours before he had been very much alive, talking to her, begging her to stay, to listen to what he had to say and now he was cold and frozen and unmoving. It made the hair on her arms rise, it drove the reality of the situation home. Itachi was gone. He was _truly_ dead in this moment.

She examined him clinically, pushing her emotions aside. He was in perfect physical condition except for one feature, as her eyes moved up his body. Uchiha Itachi had no eyes. Sasuke had stolen his eyes, just as Itachi had said. Sakura's narrowed. Next to the body was a bag of scrolls which she took and began to unroll. Inside was an organized medical chart and detailed instructions written in precise script.

"Seals?" She murmured outloud, as she analyzed the complicated instructions.

How did Itachi think she would be able to manage this? Naruto had been the expert with seals not her. Sakura sighed, and wiped her forehead. It was humid in here. That thought bothered her more than anything and she stopped everything she was doing to put a context to it immediately. Itachi expected her to save him, had counted on it and done everything he could to make sure she did.

But did she _want_ to save Uchiha Itachi? Konan's words would not get out of her head and it made her all the angrier. What did Konan have that she did not? What sort of relationship did Konan have with him that made her privy to such crucial information? Itachi had not told her everything, had not shared what he knew of the situation. And clearly he had told Konan everything. He hadn't seduced _her _with pretty words and lips, He'd told her everything. Sakura felt foolish and abandoned.

_You abandoned him first. You walked away because it was too much for you. _

Because he was getting too close for comfort. Because Sakura could feel the little circles of color and light fluttering in her stomach at his proximity, at the things he did, and the way he spoke to her. Those eyes made her tingle, shivver in anticipation, though of what she didn't have the words to express. She didn't want to accept that from herself, to expect something impossible from him. To hope after so much goddamn heartache. It was easier to run from these sinking feelings. But running, here and now meant that she would kill him. She would actively end his life, or what was left of it.

Sakura glued chakra to the bottom of her feet as she made her way up into the lofts of the tower. Crawling through the air shafts, she made her way out as the sky darkened. She a lot to mull over and she needed to think this through.

…...

Kakashi made his way through the streets of rain, his Sharingan eye covered. He would be too conspicuous otherwise. He wore a heavy cloak, a straw hat shielding him from the worst of the weather as he walked past the towering sky scrapers. The rain pelted him, hailing in the cold mists of rain country. This was the kind of rain that seeped in no matter how many layers you had. He was in the very heart of evil. Chilled, he moved quickly through the crowds, staring into a few people's faces, giving a friendly tip of his hat on occasion. He did not want to draw too much attention but it would be stupid to avoid their gazes. Only strangers and enemies dared that.

Why was he here? What could have possibly spurned a lazy ninja like himself to do something this foolish? Sakura. Only the love of a teammate would have forced him to defect like this. Tsunade would be furious at him. But it didn't matter how long he was in probation for or what the consequence was. He couldn't leave his teammates any more than he ever could. It was for this reason Obito had died. And for that reason he would now live.

Was she more than a teammate now at this point? it didn't matter, the titles that stood between them. What mattered was that he had to find her. Desperation made him needy as he searched discreetly for her chakra signature. His ninja dogs could only help him so far. He had technically defected from Konoha to do it, but he wasn't about to leave her to find her way on her own. Days of indecision had prompted him to respond. Those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash. It was his nindo and he lived by it. Would die by it if he had to. But if he were honest, this thing between them had stopped being about teammates long before now.

He sighed. Haruno Sakura, anbu captain, medical extraordinaire; biggest idiot this side of the ninja world. The girl had a knack for getting herself into the most stupid situations she could possibly put herself in to, which is why she was in rain. Didn't she know that Uchiha Madara was still around? That shadows of the Akatsuki lingered here showing up every now and then on the bingo books and in horror stories of ninja laid to waste in frozen corpses. He had to find her. She couldn't end up like that. Not here. Didn't she understand the kind of danger she'd put herself in? That the mad man still dwelt in the dark underbelly of this city? The fact that she might have made his eyes darken.

She had left after having delusions about Uchiha Itachi, a man who haunted her from the grave, but he had been dead even before Naruto had...Kakashi couldn't finish that thought. Tsunade had forced her to leave. At first he had thought Sakura was crazy. Itachi was dead, long dead from his brother's own hands. Tsunade had blamed it on her lack of sleep and the hallucinatory effects that the body could play at that level of fatigue that she'd seen him. He did not doubt her as much now, setting foot in this city. The chill of fear made the bile rise in his throat, made the uneasiness stir beneath his skin, crawling. He could taste the errie supernatural pull as if it he'd eaten something foul. For why else would she come _here_, unless she had been enticed by someone who knew their way around? For what other reason could Sakura be here, but _him_? Sakura would never dare this city on her own.

But these superstitious thoughts were unlike him. There was a logical explanation. There had to be. The last he had seen of her, she had walked off a cliff, defecting from Konoha as she had been accused of doing, wrongly accused. He had tried to stop her, had tried to detain her long enough for anbu to capture her. For even if she was detained, detainment was better than becoming a missing ninja. Perhaps his pride was injured, maybe he just didn't want another one of his students to vanish from his grasp, not when he could stop them. Maybe it had stopped being about who was the teacher and who was the student long before now.

He knew now, even if he had doubted then, that she was alive. His dogs had picked up the scent of her, confirming what he knew in his heart. It was probably the best drunken decision he had ever made. But it had been so simple when he was drunk. He'd picked up her trail and his own sobriety about half way past fire country though he had not left home for anything but a mission in more than a decade. If she was here, in rain of all the godforsaken places, then it was safe to say that _he_ might be here also as well, though how a dead man was able to walk and talk Kakashi could not answer. He only knew he had to find her. To find her and bring her back. He couldn't loose another one. He couldn't loose _her_.

He felt the chakra signature and immediately pursued, trailing after it, leaping up the building and over the ledge of the roof as hope rose. He saw the purple hair and half smiled. It was an excellent henge, nothing less from Sakura to think of something so clever but the Sharingan could see through it. She turned and those eyes widened in an expression of shock, nothing that would ever be seen on Konan's face, but bore the look Sakura could easily wear.

"Drop your henge." Kakashi told her.

Sakura's henged eyes darted wildly around. It was the second time she had heard those words but she hadn't expected them from this man. She was looking for an escape from him.

Kakashi frowned. "Sakura. Stop running away."

"I didn't run away if you remember correctly. I didn't exactly have a choice." Sakura snapped with those angry eyes. Though the color deceived him, he could tell her expression, tell it was her, written all over the strange woman's face.

Sakura turned from him, crossing her arms as the henge faded away. Pink hair the color of the sakura blossoms dropped, and Kakashi could feel himself relax even just a little.

"Sakura what are you doing here?" Kakashi asked her, disapointment and dissaproval clear from his tone as he crossed his arms.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm a missing nin, Kakashi, where else could I go to find sanctuary as an ex Kononha nin?" Sakura retorted.

Sakura glared at him, eyes carried a weight she should have never carried, aging her prematurely. She used to be so bright, so clean and new and full of joy and enthusiasm. Now she was ragged, worn and it was clear on her face. Her bright pink hair had lost it's luster, dark bags staining beneath their jade surface, but not those green eyes, that stared hard as she made her way towards him. She was nervous, figety movement from the balls of her feet shifting always gave her away.

Kakashi didn't answer as the rain poured, and Sakura was getting drenched by it, pink hair sticking to her face as it fell harder. Sakura broke the silence first, angry.

"Did Tsunade send you? No, she wouldn't, would she, after all of this?" Sakura glared, crossing her arms over her chest. She still wore her red vest, her medical skirt, but there was no trace of Konoha's insignia on her.

"So you're here on your own, you've defected from Konoha?" Sakura pitched.

Kakashi made no response simply stared at her.

Sakura grew uncomfortable.

"Why are you here?" Sakura said, making her way forward, arms on her hips as she came closer, within reach of him.

"I came here to see you." Kakashi told her, hands falling limply to his sides for what else was he to tell her. He stuffed them in his pockets feeling suddenly anxious and unable to explain why.

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she read him better than he could read himself. "You didn't think I'd survived the jump. You think this is all some stupid game, or rebellious streak in me-"

"No-" Kakashi began, arm reaching to hold, but Sakura would have none of it, slapping his hand away and interrupting.

"I don't want to hear it." She told him flatly. And then those green eyes ignited into jade fire.

"In Konoha when I came back you told me I had no way to prove Uchiha Itachi was still alive. That he was dead." Sakura words found their purchase, as Kakashi's fist closed, jaw clenched and unhinged. His heart rate rose, and he felt his shallow breathing. _Please don't say what I think you're going to..._

"Now I do." She told him unnecessarily, eyes never leaving his own.

"Follow me." She told him, walking into the rain as it began to hail, the mists of rain picking up and swirling in the changing temperature.

Kakashi could do no other than follow. If he was alive, he had to stop this, destroy him before he took Sakura places she couldn't go.

…...

Tsunade's honey brown eyes narrowed as she glared ominously at the masked root members surrounding her. Several were injured, as the battle had moved outside the kage towers spilling out into the streets of Konoha itself. Bloodied, the bodies of several anbu lying around her, she refused to be anything less than defiant until the very end. Her eyes flickered out to the horizon, to the mountainside of fire country. Civil war had broken out, spilling forth from the country like hot blood as the streets became a war zone between the two factions. The country was divided, belly slit open and gutted. Deep regret was etched on the Godaime Hokage. The hillside was burning, dark funnels of smoke filling the sky. The sounds of screaming, dying, as ninja engaged ninja on their home soil made her sick. Flames flickered over the faces of the five kages, her own included.

This was not the way she wanted to die. This was not how she wanted her reign to end. But Tsunade would be damned if she would give in easily. They would not take her lightly. Fists crashing into the ground split it further, ninja scattering. Her heeled foot smashed into the face of her nearest attacker, ponytails twirling as she crushed the head of another, sending her attackers retreating from her lethal grasp. Her anbu fought with jutsu around them, keeping the root anbu at bay from harming their hokage.

"C'mon" Tsunade snarled. " Is this the best Danzou has?" She cried, picking up a tree trunk from it's roots and throwing it at her nearest attackers, crushing them.

Anbu sliced through root members, but not without cost, one of them falling.

Tsunade's heart clenched. Damn it. Damn it she couldn't save Nawaki, she couldn't save Dan, She couldn't stop Orochimaru from leaving, nor could she stop Jiraiya, and she couldn't save Naruto. She was a hokage who was all too human, and unable to save what she treasured most. And she was sick of it.

Sakura and Kakashi were out there somewhere. Konoha was not left abandoned. Most of the jounin that remained were still alive and fighting, and the young ones had been evacuated to sand, lest they fall into the hands of Danzou. Konoha's future was protected, and Tsunade would use the last of her strength to kill whoever she could, and save those who were injured.

Letting out a cry of rage, she released the diamond on her forehead, summoning her legion of slugs. Forced to her knees, Tsunade could feel the heartbeat in her head, blood vessels blaring from the strain of chakra leaving her. Vision blurring, she could feel the sweat that drenched her.

"Ah Godaime sama." That sinister voice murmured.

"Damn you-" Tsunade hit the sweet grass of Konoha. The battle was decided.

AN: Shorter update, finding less and less time to write which is upsetting, but it is what it is. Life is chaotic as usual and there's a good chance I'll be moving again because that's the way things go with my life. Always difficult. I will do my best to update everything else when I get the chance. Thanks for your patience and no I'm not dead yet.


	13. Jealousy

_"For Love is as strong as Death, it's jealousy, unyielding as the grave..."-Song of Solomon-_

The plan was perfect. Simple really. Convince Sakura with any means necessary to revive his body. She was the only one left with the training to remake the seals. And with some help from him, he could be revived. Sakura also had enough motivation to help him put an end to Sasuke's tyranny. After that he could do whatever he wished...or dared. The thought was more tantalizing than it should be. Itachi was a man of means and control. He shouldn't want anything else from her after he got what he needed from her. But... if she could be controlled, than it would only serve to further his advantage. She could be useful to him in more ways than one.

What he hadn't counted on was the difficulty she and her more irritating teammates would be, both past _and _present currently. Itachi had made the fatal mistake thinking that his problems were over. He should have known by now that things never worked completely in his favor. Sakura had rejected him, pushed him away time and time again. He had needed something to keep her with him, to make her consider what she was loosing. She had already thought of him as a ghost. Playing up to her expectations was really child's play. However, he hadn't expected the results of that to awaken someone he had long rid himself of. Sufficed to say, even _he_ was surprised by the appearance before him.

Blue eyes the color of a storm, true to the birthright of the yondaime kage, glared balefully at him from behind crossed arms and a demeanor that would have been threatening were he not dead. Then again death hadn't stopped Itachi, so he was not, under any circumstances, to be underestimated.

"Don't think that for one second I'll allow you to hurt Sakura Chan." Naruto growled though only Itachi could see him or hear him. The Kyuubi bearer didn't know that yet. Itachi wasn't about to tell him anything of the sort.

"I wouldn't dream of it" Itachi replied sorting through the scrolls and symbols as he set the stage.

Sakura would have everything she needed at her disposal to restore him to his real body. With one whisker cheeked blonde now roaming the spiritual world he might ruin everything that Itachi had worked for thus far. He could not be allowed.

"You're a good liar Itachi, but you're not that good. She'll never fall for it." Naruto snapped.

"I have yet to lie to her, Uzumaki san, though I won't deny to stretching the truth" Itachi told him.

Naruto's eyes widened and narrowed, about to open his mouth but Itachi beat him to it.

"Is it so hard for you to believe that I _need_ her? In point of fact, I might even be serious about that." Itachi provoked, mocking smile tugging at the seams of his lips.

"You lied to her by not telling her the truth." Naruto replied.

"That is not the same. I still don't understand how that invokes someone like you to return to this plane of existence." Itachi replied jabbing him to see if he would take the bait.

"I'm the world's most unpredictable ninja" He replied with a toothy grin.

"Rest assured, Naruto, you _will_ go back to your dreamless sleep." Itachi replied darkly.

"My love for Sakura Chan is stronger, Itachi. I may not have a body, but I wont ever, not in a million years let you hurt Sakura Chan." Naruto told him.

Itachi stood up and turned. "Pray tell Naruto which option makes you most uncomfortable? The chance of her refusing me and thus never knowing what really happened, or the chance that she wouldn't?" Itachi pressed, tone smooth and cold like brass.

Narurto eyes narrowed.

"Or perhaps that's not even the teammate you're concerned about in all of this" Itachi's mocking smile grew.

"You can't hurt Sasuke now. You wouldn't." Naruto challenged but his fear clouded eyes told a different story.

"Oh, but in that you are wrong. I have made far too many mistakes in my old life to allow him to continue on the path he wanders." Itachi replied, tone serious.

Naruto did not reply, hovering over Itachi's work. Maybe he could figure out what he was doing enough to stop him. Maybe.

…...

The rusted steps of the building threatened to give way under both Sakura's and Kakashi's weight or so he felt. Kakashi trusted the metal he could hold in his hand, not the death trap beneath him. It could be the only reason someone would design something so treacherous. Collapsable, it was imminent, looming so high over this fallen city almost guaranteed death, and protection from invasion. Why people built tall sky scrapers of rust? to prove something to the gods and themselves. Kakashi felt ill, unsettled and disturbed as he stared at his ninja sandles. It was like he was treading over someone's grave as he walked over each metal grated step. He probably was. That thought jolted him, making every hair stand on edge and his already shot nerves tingle in anticipated catastrophe.

It didn't help that he hadn't slept for 30 someodd hours. Finding Sakura had been too much of a priority than his rest. Of course he tended to make bad decisions when he was exhausted anyways. Pakkun had told him this was a wild goose chase. Kakashi was starting to wonder if his dogs were onto something after all these years. He was tired, sore from traveling so hard so fast, dehydrated from not packing enough water from his hangover. He hadn't stopped often enough at the ponds and rivers he'd found along the way. He was getting too old for this, muscles not recovering as quickly from the numerous beatings he'd given them over the years. He could feel old scars pull, broken bones reminding him that he wasn't as fast as he used to be, not as quick to recover as he used to be. Their ache wasn't all together unpleasant, after all it was proof he'd survived, but a hindrance nonetheless.

However that was insignificant in comparison to what he would face here and now. This was the time where he could not afford to be a second slower. He had fought Uchiha Itachi in the past, and it was the battle that had left the most damage. He still awoke in the middle of the night imagining the horror world that Itachi had created _specially_ for him. He would swear in his moments of delusion that he could still feel, with chills, the effect of the Mangekyou. Kakashi wasn't afraid of death but he was afraid of the mangekyou. He had accepted his death long before now, when he'd inherited the birthright never meant for him.

His sharingan eye was still working, but even with the advancements he'd made, Kakashi would never be able to match, much less surpass the kekkai genkai birthright with _him_ using it. Sakura had insinuated that she had _proof_ that Uchiha Itachi did indeed live somewhere beyond the grave. But that was impossible, improbable even. Was she under a genjutsu even now? Was she being used by someone? Perhaps a puppeteer or some other new ninjutsu. Kakashi lifted his hitae ate, sharingan eye spiraling as he stared at Sakura. Nothing. Not Genjutsu, any sign or trace of chakra, and he would be able to detect it after all these years and his exposure to the ever talented Uchiha clan and their bastard prodigies left behind. He was being paranoid, but paranoid had saved his life too many times before to ignore it.

Perhaps it was cold of Kakashi not to believe in Sakura. It might have even touched on his nindo, but he had always been protective of the girl, She was always the exception, because she always managed to wind up in the worst situations possible. It wasn't that he didn't want to believe Sakura. Far from it, the girl had been nothing but reliable and desperate to prove herself until this moment. It was simply that, even though it pained Kakashi to admit it, Sasuke was a better ninja than that. Sasuke would not have left the job undone had there been any possibility Itachi could have survived. He had died being consumed by his own amaterasu leaving no body behind. Certainly he had to consider that? The steps creaked and Kakashi tensed, prepared to launch both himself and Sakura off the steps if need be. Sakura's shoulders drooped just a fraction and he could see the small line of tension in her neck, and the sound of her soft chuckling.

"After all these years Kakashi senpai you're still trying to protect me." Sakura's soft laughter was the most welcome Kakashi had heard in weeks and he hadn't realized how much he'd missed it as it pealed out contrasting against the decaying city. He hung onto every sound that escaped those coral lips.

Those apple green eyes turned, and softened just a bit for him as black eyelashes flickered. She stared at him making his breathe catch in his throat as he was as taken aback by his own response, as hers. _Lovely_...the stray undisciplined thought bewildered the ninja, realizing his guard was in some form or another down at her proximity. That was a problem though for the life of him he couldn't explain why. Kakashi had never had a way with words. It wasn't that he couldn't feel, it was that he had no ability to communicate what he felt, to release the expressions for those words to break surface.

"Can't break the habit" Kakashi replied with a smile beneath his mask trying to act casual as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. His fingers itched for an icha icha book but now was not the time.

"I need you to break it, Kakashi" Sakura snapped, grabbing his arm insistently as those soft eyes hardened. "You can't keep doing this!" She told him eyes serene and serious.

"And why not?" Kakashi retorted, eyebrows quirking at her tone with him.

He did not like that tone, did not like the way she thought she could order him around, as if his feelings for her, whatever they might be, could be snuffed like some candle, brushed under the rug. Admittedly he might not be able to pinpoint his exact feelings, but they were there, present nonetheless. And truth be told, he didn't want to protect Sakura. It ran deeper than that, deeper than the copy nin was comfortable admitting. As if he ever could.

"Because someday it's going to be the death of you. I can't bear that" Sakura replied tone sharp and angry as it faded into something else.

"Can't bear what Sakura?" Kakashi's voice was rough, sharp like a kunai, as his pride got the better of him. "Can't bear that you need help sometimes? Can't help that you're trying so hard to prove your independence by running away from his death? You've gone stale, Sakura and this attempt at self sufficiency is un-needed" Kakashi retorted.

"You can't see everything with a stolen Sharingan Kakashi, no matter how much you wish it" Sakura mocked, her words finding purchase and drawing blood.

Kakashi's face contorted in pain as her words went deeper than he wanted to, as always.

"That's _enough_, Sakura. For years I've stood by and watch you fall. Not this time. You're being suffocated, smothered by Naruto's death and I'm sick of it." Kakashi rebuked eyes as hard as her own.

That fine line of tension started in the small of her back, rising all the way to shoulders that rose, holding that fine tension between her shoulder blades as her pace quickened.

"You know what, Kakashi sensei? I'm not the only one." Sakura replied, her gloved hands resting on the iron door.

"You couldn't understand-" Kakashi began.

"Couldn't understand what, Kakashi? Understand the death of a comrade? A lover? If I'm being smothered, than you've been out and cold a long time ago, before we were born; you were dead. Because in _that_ we're even. And though one of my teammates is still alive, it's more of a curse than a blessing as he ended my _husband_ and teammate. So Don't give me your cheap lines of justice, you hypocrit. I don't want to hear them." Sakura snapped tone snuffing out at the end as she stared at the walls.

Kakashi's arm shot out grabbing hers, and turning her to face him.

"Why are you _here_, Sakura? Of all places?"

"Because I have no other option...no other way" Sakura told him.

"Yes you do. We can leave here now. Together." He told her with urgency heart in his eyes as he stared at her.

_Come with me...don't fight me on this for once. This place is dangerous. Please just... come with me..._

Sakura broke the hold by paralyzing his hand. Kakashi stared at the hand both physically and emotionally numb, as the senbon stuck out of it. Mild shock entered his system as he stared, his vision impacted. He couldn't feel it. The wounds began to gush blood, pouring down, spilling down the grate. Sakura had pranced on ahead, and Kakashi ripped the senbon out with a wince, more habit than actual feeling, throwing it behind him as he strove to catch up with her.

She hurried, pulling harder than necessary, the rusty metal door screeching open again as Sakura stormed inside, her boots echoing on the rusted metal that made up the floor. The room was musty, the smell of rust and iron and decay pervading. It was the smell of rain country itself. She made her way to the table where she'd left his body, the white sheet covering it. Kakashi followed after her, closing the door and the gap behind them.

Sakura ripped the sheet off of the body, eyes glaring jade fire at her previous mentor.

Kakashi didn't even recognize the force of seeing his body, or what that would do to him. Cold sweat, terror and chills of repressed nightmares surfaced, and Kakashi grit his teeth, grinding them as he tried to put together his torn world. Denial, vehement denial gripped him, with an unshakeable hold as he tried to rationally make sense of it all. Kakashi forced himself into action. Dispel. Dispel. It wasn't working. His sharingan could see no trace of chakra, could detect no lie. Blood was already spilt Sakura wanting to prove her point. _She'd made it alright,_ he thought looking down at his bloody hand, and the sharingan made no illusions as to the reality of this situation.

"It's his real body, Kakashi. Its no trick. He is complete, everything except his eyes. But then you _know_ who has them." Sakura told him, tone dark and cynical, foreboding.

This was the girl that Sakura had become, the cynical bitter woman who had lost every love she'd ever had. The beautiful garden that was Sakura had wilted, been destroyed by the weeds of sorrow crushing and smothering the life out of her, burnt and blackened like the remains of a forest fire.

"Why isn't he moving?" Kakashi said, feeling the urgency of the situation they were in rising. He pulled at the collar of his black shirt, feeling it tighten as he stared at the motionless corpse sweat dripping down his face.

"Because I have not performed the seals necessary. Itachi sealed himself up before Sasuke killed him. I will revive him and we will take back Konoha and deal with Sasuke."

"Sakura, what have you done?" Kakashi asked, horrified.

"I didn't do anything-" Sakura began. Both turned at the unfamiliar chakra and Kakashi's hands crackled and sparkled with an enhanced raikiri as he took in the ninja.

"She's right you know" Paper rustled, filling the room and flowing around them like a maelstrom whippling, with a sound like paper thunder. "Sakura did nothing to alter the body, and neither did I._ I_ kept his body safe all these years, and I intend to_ keep_ it that way." Konan told him, cobalt eyes narrowed as she glared at Kakashi.

Kakashi tensed, trying to motion Sakura into action, but she didn't even summon her chakra as she faced the akatsuki clad kunoichi. Kakashi understood this well enough. He would get no help from her out of this. Great. Kakashi's hand on his raikiri tightened, balling into a fist wondering if he was going to have the fight the both of them off, or if Sakura would look just like that at him and stand over his grave as he died. Sharingan whirled and he summoned his own back up plan.

"Stay out of this, Konan." Sakura's eyes narrowed dangerously, as gloved hands clenched tight enough to hear the leather creek making Kakashi question his first thoughts. "He's not going to do anything to Itachi" Sakura told her.

"You're _working_ with-" Kakashi exclaimed incredulously as he stared from kunoichi to kunoichi.

"I will _not_ and have no intention to stay out of this. Who are _you_ to invite unwanted guests into my home? To include him in something Itachi wanted to have kept secret. Do you know what you've done? Stupid little girl-" Konan demanded of the younger woman completely ignoring Kakashi's remark.

"I will do as I please and act as I see fit. Don't forget that Itachi entrusted _me_ to this task not you." Sakura replied eyes narrowed and dangerous.

"A task you are still uncertain of." Konan replied scathingly.

"Sakura, we can-" Kakashi began.

"I am not your enemy, Copy ninja Kakashi of the hidden leaf." Konan told him. "You can waste your strength fighting me, or you can return to your war torn country... Whatever Danzou has left of it" Konan told him.

Konoha. Danzou. Sakura's heart froze, lodging in her throat so painfully that she couldn't even swallow or choke. Danzou had been waiting for this. Sakura couldn't help but think, the cascading thoughts flowing like blood from an open wound. How perfect of an opportunity for him. When two of Tsunade's major supporters were gone from the village, when half her forces were out on missions so that Konoha wouldn't starve this winter. He had been waiting for this. For the right opportunity to gut Konoha and spill it's bowels in the streets of the ninja world. Danzou had crossed the line, had spilt Konoha blood in the public, instead of playing games in the shadows.

"Tsunade wouldn't allow that to happen." Sakura's unwavering tone held the conviction and belief she held in her were still those who would fight for Konoha. Kakashi could see her tremble and he felt her pain, a pain he was all too familiar with. It was all she had left to grasp for.

"Danzou was out for blood in the streets. His black ops took the city and began to burn the capitol, killing and pillaging. He forced her to use the chakra she had secretly concealed on her forehead, Sakura and she did it to save the wounded so they had a chance of escape. You and I both know what the chances of her standing and walking away from that are. Danzou has been proclaimed the new Hokage of Konoha, and has shared that information among the ninja nations." Konan told her with finality.

Sakura trembled, and suddenly exploded in a sight of pure unadultered rage, lungs screaming as she punched the side of the rusty tower. The tower screeched, metal crunching around her fist, a crater impact from her right hook and the entire building began to shift.

Konan's eyes narrowed, but Konan stood her ground as the tower threatened to give way, paper whirling and slicing through the air. Kakashi stared at Sakura's hand, bloodied. Her red smeared hand was a mess, the blood trickling down the grates and further below them. He watched her tremble. The sob was soft, but it didn't escape his excellent hearing. Kakashi made towards her, before paper sliced his exposed eyebrow.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he glared at the cobalt eyed kunoichi.

"Thats far enough copy nin." Konan told him as she tried to get around to Itachi. Kakashi's senbon pinned her paper to the wall nearly catching her cloak. If he couldn't move towards Sakura he wasn't about to let her move towards Itachi.

"You know I have a few techniques from Itachi himself that would make this a whole lot easier" He told her eyes narrowed.

"You would kill all of us. These are no ordinary sheets of paper, or did you miss that with your stolen sharingan?"

"I didn't miss it. I'm not afraid to die." Kakashi told her.

"Foolish" She told him eyes straying to Itachi's body. She was triangulated, the furthest from him.

If Kakashi made a move to end it, she would stop him. Perhaps not in time, but certainly end him. But what about Sakura? She was clearly in on this little coupe de grace and she had something up her sleeve by being involved with the ex Akatsuki member. Or who knew perhaps Akatsuki still thrived and she was now a key member, but he doubted that Sasuke would have allowed that. Eyes fell to the petal haired nin. She had to make this choice. He couldn't act, wouldn't act without her no matter what the consequence.

…...

Sakura could feel it. The sick feeling of her stomach muscles clenching and un clenching, like a dank pit, a vortex of tangled emotion. The world was crashing down, falling through beneath her feet. The world had already crashed down, fallen through, and she had abandoned her home, her country in it's greatest time of need. _They pushed you away, forced you out and look what happened_. Sakura walked towards him, hiding her eyes from him as she embraced him in a heart rendering hug, more of a clinging desperation as her hands kneaded themselves in his jounin vest. Raikiri disappeared as he looked to Konan, but the kunoichi made no move to stop him. He embraced her unable to do anything more as the paper around them died down to a trickle. Hot tears spilled down her cheeks as she tried to swallow her pride, her grief that choked her, threatening to consume.

Kakashi's mouth rested against her hair as she trembled, and he wanted to kiss it, to let her know it would be alright. But he couldn't muster the strength to lie to her anymore. Things hadn't been alright with him since Obito died, since he'd lost Rin, and countless others along the way. Things hadn't been right when he'd been made their sensei, when team seven had lost it's original member, when team seven splintered and fractured into a thousand broken pieces.

"You have a few options Kakashi. You can stay here, try to take his body, and I'll kill you. Or you can try and take up with the resistance making their way to Sand to lick their wounds. Konoha is burning, so there might be survivors, trying to keep Danzou's forces from following easily. The Kazekage is apparently offering amnesty to those in resistance, against the new hokage's wishes."

Kakashi regarded Konan as Sakura wept.

Konan's cobalt eyes softened just a fraction as she watched their pain, and it mirrored, reflected her own. Her team. Her family. They had lost what was most precious to them. Their home. How many days, weeks, months, years had it been since she'd seen this kind of suffering? This was what Yahiko and Nagato had fought so hard to end. What they had learned, what she had learned by a small child no less; was not the true path to peace. It led her to say what she had felt was impossible in her current state.

"I will leave you. Sakura..."

Which really meant that she would trust them. Sakura was flabbergasted,

"You cannot let your path be drawn astray by your grief. Mold it. Make the pain and sacrifice worth it, and do not blame yourself. You could not have prevented this disaster." Konan told her, disappearing with a rustle of paper.

Kakashi sighed, raking a hand through his white hair, whilst the other hand held Sakura against him.

"Please...Please Kakashi senpai, please I need you to see if anyone is left...if anyone is left alive." Sakura pleaded, choking as those green eyes poured saline tears.

"I cant leave you here, not with him, not like this" Kakashi protested voice strangled as the situation hit him full force. It was just like Obito all over again. Choose between what he knew he had to do and his teammates...why was it his teammates always had to die for his duty. He couldn't leave the people of Konoha, they would need him now more than ever... but Sakura!

"We cant leave Konoha like this and you know it! We have to settle this between Danzou. It's come to this...and I cant do this on my own. I'm already committed to the path I'm on." Sakura told him, eyes wide and alarmed.

"And you think bringing that _monste_r back to life will solve this?" Kakashi retorted exasperated by her naivety.

"Who else would have the chance, the talent, or the resources of taking Danzou?" Sakura snapped.

"I would" Kakashi replied.

"_That is doubtful_" The lilting tenor that had been snuffed out entirely echoed in the rusty metallic room.

Sakura's green eyes shot open as her hand flew to her mouth. She could feel the electricity flowing through every pore, every fingertip. She turned, short pink hair whipping as her face turned to the voice she had thought was lost forever.

"Itachi!" Sakura gasped.

Kakashi's mismatched eyes widened.

…...

Itachi watched as Sakura launched herself at him, and pressed close, sobbing in relief. Had she missed him so much? Arms wrapped around her tenderly, murmuring to her reassuringly the press of her against him feeling more right than he had ever imagined. He looked back at Kakashi. The copy ninja would have been green were he able to change colors so quickly, and behind him a blue eyed whisker cheeked blonde shared the same grim expression behind him. Smiling darkly for their benefit, his hands wandered the expanse of her back, pulling her even closer against him reveling in their misery.

"Sakura, your hand." Itachi reminded her delicately taking her hand in his not missing the flinch from Kakashi and Naruto's strangled choke as he brought it to his lips and placed a chaste kiss there.

"S-Sakura Chan" Naruto strangled out. He tried to get Kakashi's attention in vain. No one could see or hear him but Itachi. This was rich.

Years spent in the life of Naruto, forced only to watch as Naruto did whatever he pleased, had no realization he was even there, inside of the kyuubi bearer. Years of Itachi screaming, until he was hoarse, until finally he stopped speaking altogether, content to be a passive spectre in the life of the blonde. Even though Itachi had nearly lost his sanity, had practically given up all hope, he saw his chance in the literature the blonde began to read, in the moves that opponents used against Naruto by copying them. The seinin Jiraiya had been a seal master, had left countless works for his little apprentice. Naruto read through them all and it was through this that Itachi found his way out. He had sealed himself from the inside of his body, using seals he learned as Naruto scanned through scrolls of seals. Naruto could not memorize them with a glance, in fact brushed over very many useful and powerful ninjitsu seals. Itachi, however, was another story. Through years of pouring over scrolls and trying seal after seal, Itachi was able to do the impossible. And now Naruto was getting a bitter taste of his own medicine.

_How does it feel Naruto for no one to hear you scream? For no one to hear your cries?_

"Oh!" Sakura exclaimed, realizing the mess her hand was in, wiping her eyes, as her hand glowed green, skin healing before his eyes.

"H-how-" Kakashi began.

"It does not matter. Danzou is on the move. My sources tell me that the anbu black ops are tailing the straggling survivors. Sand has gone against his wishes and is harboring those who flee"

"Gaara..." Naruto said, bowing his head overcome with emotion. He was protecting a people who weren't his own. How different he had become from their childhood. Naruto could not have been prouder.

"He will not be able to ward off so many, particularly since they are wounded and travelling with children..." Itachi told him, sharingan eyes meeting his own without a hint or trace of emotion.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"You are the only one left to unite the people in an uprising." Itachi stated.

"Do you honestly expect me to trust you?" Kakashi sneered as he stared at the eldest Uchiha brother. Even in his childhood, Itachi had been a monster among the Anbu forces. Kakashi didn't just dislike him. He had hated him, hated him for the fear he felt, especially after their former encounter.

"I don't expect you to, Hatake san. However, I do not think you have much of a choice in the matter." Itachi replied simply.

"Isn't it a little convienent that this is all happening at once" Kakashi retorted eyes turning to Sakura. Green eyes turned from his, to Itachi's, in a glance that echoed his question.

"One learns to play the cards they are dealt, Hatake san." Itachi replied with a wry grin.

"Sakura, you would be a fool to trust him" Kakashi told her.

"Thats right Kakashi sensei! You tell him!" Naruto cheered.

"Would she?" Itachi asked tone suggesting otherwise. "I would state rather, that she would be better off with me."

Sakura eyed Itachi, frown deepening as she stared from silver to raven black.

"And what angle are you getting at now?" Kakashi demanded.

"That you knew about the incident with Sasuke. You've known since Naruto discovered the information through Madara. You knew and you kept it from her, because you couldn't trust her with the information. That time and time again when Sakura received promotion you used your own weight to hold her back, to keep her from achieving her true potential. You've kept her bound, all these years, close to you from a bond you couldn't let go of" Itachi told him.

Sakura's jaw dropped.

Kakashi's fist clenched. "You Bastard-" which was echoed by Naruto's voice.

"I suppose thats partially true to my own means" Itachi told him. "But then again I told Sakura the truth before now."

"I should have known." She ground out. Kakashi's head whipped around to face Sakura. "Tell me it isn't true, Kakashi."

"Sakura-I-"

"TELL ME" She demanded, her voice echoing off the walls.

Kakashi said nothing. Sakura paused looking like her eyes were filling with tears, and the she bit her lip to stop them. She nodded in understanding, turning from him.

"Sakura-wait-." Kakashi pleaded.

"No. _No,_ I think I've done enough waiting. I've done _enough_ wondering. Wondering if I'd ever be good enough, wondering if I was really a part of team seven, wondering if I wasn't just dead weight to the team. Wondering if I'd finally made you proud by standing on my own two feet. Thats what you wanted wasn't it Kakashi? For me to be able to stand on my own? To make my own decisions." Sakura said coldly to him.

"Well here I am. Standing. On my own two feet. I am _not_ going back. So you can save those who have fleed, or you can let them die, but regardless I won't be going with _you_." Sakura told him with finality. Her frozen words cut to the very core.

"No! Sakura chan can't you see he's using you! This is what he wants! He wants to isolate you from Kakashi sensei! Sakura can't you see he's manipulating you and that you're playing right into his hands! Sakura chan! SAKURA CHAN!" Naruto screamed trying to make her see, to make her hear him. He barred the way in front of her to Itachi. Sakura walked right through him, and Naruto choked, as she turned to him.

Kakashi's hand wanted to reach up, to stop her. He wanted to say something, anything. But Kakashi was always undoubtably too late. Too late to save Obito. Too late to save Sasuke from walking away. Too late to save Naruto. Too late to tell Sakura the truth. Kakashi felt numb. Shaken. So he turned, and walked down the hall, to those rickety steps. And he disappeared with the rain. He was right. These steps had led to death, the death of Sakura, the death of himself, the death of team seven. It cut to the soul of him, deep and he felt the tears before he registered them. Not any longer. It would never happen again. He vowed it. He fixed his eyes on the horizon. He would not be too late this time. He would save those fleeing for the borders of sand. He would make it in time. Hands flying through symbols, he summoned his pack of dogs and vanished from rain country.

…...

Sakura turned to face him, as Naruto stood, aghast at the circumstances taking place.

"There's something you're not telling me either." Sakura told him, eyes narrowed.

"Yes. There are lots of things I have not told you yet Sakura." Itachi replied cooly.

"Why?" She asked him green eyes sharp as a kunai.

"Do you want to know? If you really think you can handle more, I will tell you." Itachi told her, not even blinking under her gaze.

_ He means it. He's serious this time_.

"You mean it? When I ask you, you will tell me? You won't ignore my questions?" Sakura asked him.

"I will answer whatever question you ask me." Itachi told her truthfully.

Sakura's eyelashes fluttered. Her mouth opened, and then shut. Itachi's look was one of question.

"I'll ask you later. Right now I want to get this over and done with. Let's get you back in your body." She told him with a smile.

Itachi felt the triumph course through him as if he still had veins. The dark smile graced his lips, sliding across his face. Sweet triumphant victory. She was his for the taking.

"Yes. Let's" He replied, following after her.

AN: I basically was dumped by the love of my life less than a week ago. So shitty times meaning this might get darker, and I still haven't been able to find a job and forced to move back to family. I will be updating these ficlets of mine probably more regularly simply to handle stress but I am on the look out for a new beta reader as mine have a lot going on their plates right now. Any takers? Message me.


	14. Truth is Truth

AN: Reference pic for Izanami provided by Noxypia and add jpg behind it. Its not my drawing. If you dont know Izanami is you might want to look it up on wikipedia.

deviantart .net/fs44/f/2009/161/1/4/Izanami_by_

You can shower love and praise onto Thirdtimecharm for becoming my lovely beta muse. This update is thanks to her tireless (literally) efforts and enthusiasm and brilliant insight.

"_Truth is Truth to the end of Reckoning"-William Shakespeare-_

"I have to admit I'm rather taken aback by you Sakura." Itachi told her as she poured over the symbols and runes in the file. Her green eyes flickered over the pages, constantly at work as she catalogued the information.

"Why is that?" She asked, not even looking up from the paperwork she was delving in. Ever the medic. Ever the professional. Itachi felt the smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Naruto sat in the corner beginning to look a little pale, wane and worse for the wear.

_There's no one here to save you now, Kyuubi bearer _Itachi thought darkly with contempt.

"You left behind Konoha and Team Seven for this little endeavor of ours. I simply did not expect it." He told her honestly.

Sakura looked up. "I have spent my entire life fighting for a team that didn't believe in me, a country that told me I couldn't. I'm sick of it." She said bright apple green hooking him in intensity. Naruto's wince and shudder was unmistakeable behind her but it appeared he didn't have any talk left in him. That was odd, but Itachi was stunned by Sakura's comments more than Naruto's silence.

It was Itachi's turn to be surprised. So she...believed in him. It wasn't real, but it was sentimental, simplistic and endearing much like Sakura herself. Touched and unable to express the full capacity of feelings he felt, Itachi returned to the matter at hand, ocassionally peeking at Sakura when he could manage it without being caught. She was fresh, free and unteethered from her bonds. _All except one_ Itachi thought glancing at Naruto. It was a tie he would figure out how to sever soon enough. Sakura sorted through more of the papers, jotting down notes occasionally.

"Okay" Sakura said taking a deep breathe. "I think we're ready." She said.

Itachi nodded. "You have all the seals in order?"

"Did you want to take a look for yourself?" She asked him carefully awaiting his reaction.

Itachi shook his head curtly. That gave Sakura a start.

"You're not going to check it?" She exclaimed. Another shake of the head. "As hard as you may find this to believe...I have faith in your abilities, Sakura" Itachi told her.

Sakura felt the flush in her cheeks from his unexpected praise. A smile, brighter than a sky lit by stars was his reward. And it brought her that much _closer _to him, a fact he savored.

"Sakura...in case this does not go as planned-" Itachi began.

"Stop" Sakura interrupted, placing herself in his arms wrapping her own around his neck. "It will go exactly as planned." She told him, leaning up to look him in the eyes. Red Sharingan were shielded by his pale eyelids, black lashes longer than she had remembered as she leaned closer sedated by his presence. Her face ghosted up the side of his nose, as moist pink lips barely kissed him on the tip. This sparked something darker, deeper within those red eyes and they turned feral in their intensity tomoe whirling as he struck, lips seizing hers in a searing kiss. The kiss started as mild, tame even, but passion tempered it's patience as they ardently renewed their course. Tongues tangled Itachi broke them off, breathing labored.

"Where do you need me?" He asked her, cheeks lit with their exertion.

Sakura smiled shyly even, pointing to his real body. Itachi picked up the white sheet from the floor wrapping it over his body for modesty's sake. Odd. Very odd. It was a bit alarming to be looking down at himself, but it did not matter. It would not be for long. His eyes turned back to Sakura who was now whirling through seals and runes her eyes closed in concentration as she linked the chains of seals together, weaving them with her ninjutsu and exceptional chakra control.

Naruto was white as a sheet, feeling weaker by the moment as he huddled in the corner at such an open display of affection. It had finally hit him. Kakashi was gone and with his absence, a darkness and a despair he had never felt before in life took it's place in this death. He could not stop this. He could not stop them. And the ill feeling growing from the core of his essence in this plane grew worse, shaking and tremors violently passing through him as he was forced to watch in horror and awe at the event transpiring.

Net upon net was cast around the body of Itachi, and he stood transfixed over himself, watching it all in fascination as it was set in foundation. Sakura was a marvel of a ninja when she wanted to be. The dark colors of the seals began to grow red, brighter and brighter as they first contracted and then expanded, quivering as the chakra made it sizzle. Sakura's heart and focus was on the seals she was attending to, and little by little, they formed an intricate channel around himself. It was almost time. The symbols began to flicker, much like a fire in the wind and Itachi could feel the surge in chakra. The density of power tripled three fold.

The seals began to close in further, the net rising, taking form as they gathered a tornado of swirling flickering runes and icons. Itachi stood still, head turning as he watched the seals place themselves on his translucent skin, and the skin of his body, soaking in the red fading to a dull gray as it evaporated on the surface of his pores. He could feel the power entering him though he was disconnected from his body. _Yes _he thought in pure ecstasy. After so long, it was finally happening. Sakura was on the finishing touches, releasing the last, as her eyes flickered open. Wiping the sweat off her brow she flowed into the hand seals inverting the proper horse, sheep, and dog, for the most difficult part of all.

Slamming her palm into the ground with enough force to crack and dent the metal she called out the forbidden jutsu "Yomi-no-kuni- no jutsu" She cried, her voice echoing, and splintering off the walls like the sounds of a thousand bat wings hitting it.

The unearthly screeching sound split the air and caused blood to fall from her nose. Unholy light, orange and red in itensity, soon faded to blue and grey. Sakura held her ears in agony, curling, as she stared in horror upon the figure that appeared above Itachi.

Like the darkening sky of a hurricane the appearance on this women was gradual, ethereal as she became solid, whole. The woman was pale, with dark soul-less eyes. Burning was the only description readily availible to her to describe the depths within them. Her long hair was black but lacked luster, life as the woman herself was more like a corpse than anything else, a gray scale in contrast to Sakura and Itachi. Blood smeared her fine white kimono, the only color on her. The obi was cinched tight, the rise of the swell of her breasts the only possible attractive feature on her, as the woman moved like a corpse, lifting the wand of the lantern in her hand high as the other finger pointed directly at Sakura. Black lips, appearing seamless opened in a silent scream that shook the entire tower, and Sakura knew death was imminent. This was no controlling or regular summoning jutsu. Itachi had tricked her, had her summon Izanami herself from the depths, calling on powers beyond their abilities to control much less contain. What had she done?

Bones rattled and crackled as grey fire blazed around Death and Itachi. His eyes were transfixed upon her, lost in a look of awe Sakura had never seen before. She doubted he had ever looked at someone with such fear and trembling. Brought to his knees whether that was in submission, or acceptance of the situation, Sakura could not say. The translucent Itachi lifted his hands up to his mother goddess divine, his maker and doubly, executioner.

"Ita-" Sakura tried to cry but her throat gave out, dropping to her knees from the sheer amount of power coursing and flowing from the fount source; the woman...goddess. She reached a struggling hand towards them, crawling in her desparation.

The woman smiled, black lips lifting in a grin full of rotting teeth and pests too horrible to name. Her screamless cry ignited the paper lantern, bursting into flame as it consummed Itachi, and his body, bathed in black and red smoke so deep and dark there was no way to tell what was happening.

A vortex with a pull and force of wind Sakura had never seen, or felt before, sucked the unworldly woman in it. She vanished from sight, the sound of a thousand bat wings, and crackling bones, disappearing with the acrid smell of burnt ashes and decay.

"Itachi!" Sakura cried, stumbling to her feet terrified that the vortex had taken him too. The translucent Itachi was gone, all that was left was his body, lying motionless on the table. She teetered to him, using the legs of the steel table to help her up. He had to be alright. Oh_ please..._ let him be alright_._

"Itachi?" She asked, desperate as she felt for a pulse on his neck. Nothing. She could feel nothing. Panic overwhelmed her as she listened for his breathing. Nothing. Frantic now she began chest compressions, working in a frenzy as she breathed breath into him. Back to chest compressions. She counted to keep herself from loosing control. Breathe. BREATHE! She begged.

Coughing suddenly and unexpectedly, Itachi lurched forward, gasping for breath. His arms reached out blindly, frantic himself for something, anything to grasp, to touch that was alive, real.

"Itachi!" Sakura cried grabbing his arms to keep from hurting himself though sharp nails still dug into her skin. He was shaky, pale and quivering as if his entire body was unable to function correctly and he was cold and clammy to the touch. It shocked Sakura to see him in such a vulnerable state.

"Sakura! Sakura...I cannot see." Itachi's voice more helpless and small than she had ever heard him be, registered. His voice held the sob in check but she had never heard him sound so broken before.

Sakura felt the fragile tug on her heartstrings. She reached forward, wrapped her arms around him, feeling his panic as he held onto her like a drowning man in an ocean. His arms were clenched so tight around her as he trembled and shook.

"Hey...it's alright." Sakura murmured, fingertips digging gently, lovingly into his hair. Her touch was massaging and soothing as her entire being echoed reassurance that he was alive and he was safe in her arms.

…...

Itachi reached out his hands and felt his entire essence surrender to her will. She was a goddess. He could not refute nor refuse her. It was left up to her to decide if he would live or die. It was a gamble, a crucial gamble. He could hear her voice, her thoughts in his head.

_A price. _The voice insisted. _Death and life are one. _

A price? How would he pay for such a thing? And what price would be acceptable? And suddenly he understood the weight of her 's eyes strayed to Naruto's spirit. It was only fitting wasn't it? Naruto was dead, should have stayed dead. Naruto had kept him from the grave before. Now he would do so again. Itachi nodded, knowing Izanami knew the depth of his heart, his intentions. With an open mouth her creatures poured out from her the depths of her bowels, descending upon Naruto.

"AHG! Itachi! Itachi! What the hell have you done?" The creatures tore into him, grabbing hold of his translucent essence and pulling him to Izanami.

_You are dead. And so shall you return _Itachi thought.

"I-TA-CHI!" Naruto's strangled cry disappeared within the shadowy creatures.

_The sacrifice is acceptable. The price is paid. _

Itachi felt the irrisistable tug as he was pulled towards his body. His essence was being sucked back in. Itachi felt the flames burst, and rise around them and heard the crackling of bones and a thousand bat wings.

To go from being outside of his body to be launched straight into the eye of the storm, to feel one's very essence being sucked in and solidified after years of insubstantial feeling was cataclysmic. It was like stuffing an elephant into a glass jar, and he cried out in agony as the stars danced around his vision spinning and spiraling in a kaledescope of pain. He wondered if this was how the Kyuubi felt being sealed inside of a human. Choking on the pain, he coughed, gasping in breathe.

Every pore, every fibre of his being ached from strenuous overextension, as if he had worked out his entire musculature in one instant. Shooting up from his position, he felt the pain stab in every clench of his abdomen as he shook his head to rid himself of the stars and the dark.

Blue stars did _not _disappear from the darkness of his vision. He could feel the cold sterile light from the hanging fixtures, the chilly feel of the room from Izanami's appearance and exit, but he could not see it. He could sense Sakura's fear, could almost taste it, could feel her chakra near him, but he could not see it. Darkness. Only Darkness. He tried to blink it away, feeling the rising panic in him as he could not blink. He could not see. He could feel the blood vessels behind his eyes, but they were attatched to nothing. His arms reached out, flailed for something, anything. His eyes were not there in the sockets of his face. The air on the flesh inside of his eyes was the only feeling there. Nerve endings were ever feeling and never seeing.

To go from having complete sight, being invisible with the ability to see far more than anyone in any given situation could to completely sightless shattered him. He had underestimated how this would feel, how he would react to it. Who would be able to anticipate this feeling? To control it? Swift Panic that he had tried to quelm, rose, and he fought the wave of nausea induced vertigo. He felt chills, teeth chattering as strong shock coursed through his frame making the already unbearable pain worse.

"Sakura, Sakura" Itachi confessed weakly, voice choked by raw emotion trying to force its way through his restraint. Desperation made his hands shaky as he reached out for something, anything to grasp. "I cannot see"

His grip was tight, needy as he felt her pull him close. Her warmth, her radiance illuminated him keeping the tremors at bay. Those medical hands made their way into his hair, massaging and soothing as she murmured comforting reassurance. She always had a floral smell to her, but this smell was stronger, lovely as he breathed her in. She was a lifeline, an act of preservation as she calmed him. The tremblings ceased under her patient administrations and eventually he felt even the shakiness of his own voice subside. Hands made their way up to trace her face using his fingers to delicately feel what was there. Had he functional tearducts for tears he would have cried.

"Where does it hurt?" The tenderness of her question was intimate not just applying to his physical state of being.

He placed himself closer, the act bringing back the pain with his adrenaline no longer racing. "Everywhere"

She nodded. The pain of being brought back to life would strike every nerve ending, every muscle. Healing chakra flooded its way through his being, racing through chakra tunnels and dampening the immense pain. He sighed in utter relief, as he felt his body lapping at the cooling waves chakra.

She was definitelty born to be a medic. Patient, tender, caring, Sakura was a natural at her passion. Briefly, he wondered what other sorts of passion she might have and was startled not by the thought but by the lack of regret or contempt for the thought. Her fingertips trailed the expanse of his cheek, softly nearing the eye sockets as she summoned her chakra again this time for more precise examination. It fascinated him her precise abilities.

"Do you have any tenderness in the skin? Scaring that you can sense on your end of things?" Sakura asked him as she placed her hands on either side of his face, running her chakra through his skin.

"No. Nothing I can feel there. I can't really feel much of anything." He told her the admission bittersweet.

"The removal wasn't nasty. They took their time with the procedure. They would have to be careful to keep the eyes intact, especially to avoid retinal scaring or complications with attaching the nerve chords." Sakura told him trying to sound cheerful. Her efforts were endearing, but there was no comfort to be found in that thought.

Itachi moved on for the neccesity of it. He didn't want to dwell on his thoughts as they would accomplish nothing but more pitiful reactions from him. So his focus turned to Sakura. He could feel her tension. They must be a sight to look at. A bit self concerted, Itachi turned his face from her. Her heard the sigh which gave him hope, only for her to pull what he could only assume was her konoha hitai-ate from it's place as her headband.

"Sakura..?" He could hear the action.

"I'm a medic, Itachi. I knew what it would be like when I agreed to this. I'm not afraid of you. But we need to keep it clean and free from debris. I'm going to tie this around your eyes for now." She told him the professional medic voice flowing.

Hands brushed through his strands as his thoughts took on another interpretation of her movements and desire surged at the intimate touch. He felt her knot the back together to tie it. It slid comfortably over the eyes he did not possess.

"It doesn't hurt you right?" Sakura asked, hands lingering on his face.

"No." He replied, the feeling of her presence, the feeling of those calloused fingertips, expert medical hands carressing his skin gently and reveling in it, for feelings he could not quite understand. "Not anymore." He confessed surprised by his own answer.

The feel of her, something he could not manage to fully take in during his spectre time, now hit him forcefully causing more than one reaction. The scent of her, the feel of her so close against him, skin on his skin made him burn, every hair standing on edge, hyper aware of how she was touching him. Electrified tingles rippled beneath his skin sending tidal waves of pleasure where she gently slid her fingers, retracting her chakra as her prognosis was complete. There was something so very intimate about the way her chakra felt inside of him causing him to wonder if she desired the same. Her hands left his face and he felt the sharp bite of dissapointment settle.

He wanted her to touch thought was shocking, where it once had been repulsive in the depths of Naruto's mind. Now it was replaced with deep longing, a need for something she might not be ready to give, ready to offer. Itachi was helpless in this moment in light of both his blindness and desire.

"Sakura, I-" Itachi began, but stopped. What did he want from her? He reached for her hand.

"Yes Itachi?" Sakura replied, interlacing her hand in his, with a gentle squeeze. She could only imagine how hard this was for him, to go from insubtantial to now having a body, but lacking his sight, his most powerful weapon. It overwhelmed her, the compassion she felt for him. She wanted to be there for him.

"It may be impertinent to think it, much less desire it, but I cant help but find myself terribly attracted to you in this state. It's probably unthinkable for you without my eyesight but-" Itachi paused searching for the words.

Startled by the abruptness of his words, and the honesty that lingered in them, Sakura stared at him waiting for him to continue.

"Sakura, what I am trying to say is that I believe that I need this-you." Itachi told her, straight forward and to the point. "I need you."

A sharp intake of breathe at his declaration left Sakura speachless. Had Itachi just told her those words? Those direct words? Desire that had been suppressed by terrible endurance and travel and fear for his safety errupted, pooling in the pit of her stomach and tingling right down to her toes. Sakura stared at him through glazed eyes. Did she want him? Yes. She had wanted him before now. She wanted this. Wanted to feel needed, to feel desired, to see what it would be like to be craved like a desperate addict. To give and take in the oldest of ways. Skin, his skin on her skin, to be lost within him and allow him to be lost in her. To take him to the edge and back again, and have herself teeter over with him.

Itachi must have mistaken her silence for hesitance. "I won't force you. I would never want that. Would never treat you like that" He told her.

It was endearing, really. He probably couldn't force her in the state he was in, but it meant so much more to her. It made this so much more than it already was. He wanted what she had to give. All of it. She wanted to give it. By the looks of things he was grappling with what he had admitted to. Sakura wouldn't have it. This would happen, was happening even as he deliberated.

"Itachi. Hush." She told him, silencing his protest with her lips.

…...

Nestled between his arms, a blanket laid out of the ground and a blanket over both of them Sakura was warm and surprisingly safe, felt safe so close to him. His arms were wrapped around her as she was curled his arm drapping over her middrift keeping her close against him, her backside warm from his nearness. He was alive, very much alive; and in a way, she too was alive, having woken up from what felt like a dream these past five years. So much had happened. So much had changed her. And now this. It felt like healing. It felt like closure to a lot of her unanswered questions in life.A closing of doors, and an opening of so many others.

He stirred, rising.

"Hello." Itachi told her, reaching for the hitae ate to tie around his eyes again, thumb delicately brushing the side of her cheek.

It was almost sweet that he didn't want to startle her with his empty eyesockets, but it was a little late for that. Sure, perhaps that had been odd of her removing it. To Sakura, however, it was simply an acknowledgement of her accepting him as he was.

"I just want you to know-" Sakura began

"This doesn't change anything, I understand-" Itachi interrupted her turning from her as he realized where this conversation was going and the pit in his stomach dropped further.

Itachi was surprised by the depth of feeling there by her words. He shouldn't have been. This was a gamble, and even he could not have predicted the outcome.

"No. Thats not it at all" Sakura said, hand brushing his face tenderly. He turned towards the sound of her voice. "Actually I was going to say it changes everything." She told him, pushing his long hair out of the way to place a kiss on his neck.

Itachi's startled face was priceless.

"I don't do things like this lightly, Itachi." Sakura touched his hand. "I left my home, everyone I've know and loved. I originally followed you on a whim thinking you were the last hope at saving Konoha. Now it's something more. More than I ever could have imagined." She almost took her hand away but he grabbed it, interlacing her fingers with his. "I want you to know that I'm in this till the finish. I'm with you."

"Yet again Sakura. You surprise me." He told her, taking her her hand and kissing it.

"Mmm..you're not the only one surprised by this turn of events." She said, leaning in close to press chastening kisses on his neck. "Was there something else you wanted to show me?" Sakura's voice was provoking in a slightly sensual way. He loved her subtlety. She interlaced her hand in his, her other reaching to place his right on the side of her ribcage just beneath her breast.

"In due time." Itachi's voice was amused by her antics even if he could not envoke them at the moment. "As pleasurable as this has been, in light of your statements, I suppose we'd best get to it then." Itachi replied

She was right. This changed everything. Sakura had come to him willingly. He would no longer have to fight her to get her to help him. She was already on board and that thought brought feelings he could only identify as sheer masculine pride to him and an optimism he had never felt before. His determination, even her own determination evoked stronger feelings of protection than he realized he had. She was now a part of his plans. He now had something to lose. He realized with a start that he would not lose her. Would not _want_ to lose her.

"Is the plan still the same?" Sakura asked him crossing the bridge to the discussion.

Itachi knew she was referring to herself being bait for Sasuke. That was no longer an option as He had weighed the pros and the cons. Risking her was simply unacceptable. There had to be another way. He would find another way. He shook his head. "No. We will find another way-"

"But you were right." Sakura admitted. "The only way he will actually show up, is if I'm there. He'll suspect a trap, but I don't think he will go for the instant kill." Sakura said. She reached for her articles of clothing and Itachi heard the rustle of fabric.

"Sakura, you don't have to do this-" Itachi began but Sakura interrupted him. "He has to be stopped" Sakura told him sincerely. "And I know that this time will be different. I trust you."

Those words startled him. He felt her reaching for her clothing and he realized his own naked state. He rose. Close enough was a metal cabinet and he knew there would be clothing in it for him as Konan had made developments for his return. Itachi dressed briskly, the feel of the cloth against his skin most welcome from his translucent state. He heard the rustle of paper before she arrived and he supposed he should be thankful for his heightened senses in wake of his blindness.

"Konan" Itachi greeted, Sakura surprised. The medic nin came to stand beside him, fingers practically touching his at her proximity. It was clear in the way she summoned her chakra that she was uncomfortable and the same spike in chakra was resonated, resounding from Konan herself as her paper surged into the room.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Itachi." Konan greeted, low voice enthused by his arrival.

"I could not have achieved the impossible without your help. A debt I am not quick to forget, but you will receive your recompense when I have taken my eyes back." Itachi told her.

"So that is the next step?" Konan asked him.

Sakura was surprised by the question in the tone. So he hadn't told her everything that would happen. That gave her assurance in Itachi.

"Yes. We will go to take back what is rightfully mine and to settle what is long past due" Itachi told her.

"Then I will come with you." She told him in a tone that would not be questioned.

Itachi was not one to take demands of any sort. "Your services are required elsewhere Konan." Itachi's tone was cold and unwavering "There is much afoot in the ninja world even in this short time that I have been predisposed and I need to know."

"and if I refuse? You could use my help in dealing with the dark prince and I have my own reasons for wanting to see his downfall, as I desire to see you rise to your former glory." Konan told him frankly, eyelashes flickering to Sakura's for her benefit.

Sakura's lip curled in derision, fists clenched.

"Dare I remind you that these plans are of my making? Should you refute me in this manner. I will not be afraid to do what is necessary." His words very deliberate and very deadly. "I will let no one stand in my way any longer. The time for indecisiveness is past, long dead." Itachi told her, tone chilled and unforgiving, as he took up Sakura's hand in his.

"I...understand" Konan replied, head bowing a fraction.

"See to it that there will be no misunderstanding in the future." Itachi dismissed her.

Konan's eyes met Sakura's in a look that was as heated as it was ugly. Sakura did her best not to smile at the expression, after all they were on the same side now. She disappeared in a whirl of paper flooding out the metal door with a slam.

Sakura was surprised by the sharp tone he took with Konan and her abrupt departure. She had misjudged him and the nature of their relationship with her Giving his hand a squeeze she gently carresed his thumb with hers.

He brought her in for a searing kiss, burying his hands in her soft tresses, revelling in the taste of her as she responded to his fervor with her own. He heard her sigh into the kiss, felt those eyelashes kiss his cheeks as his lips brushed hers one more time before releasing her.

Sakura opened her eyes, to look at him. She knew he was reassuring her, that whole scene with Konan had been for her benefit to let her know exactly what they were and what she meant to him, and truly to show Konan what Sakura meant to _him_.

"And now we need to set out what we came to accomplish. We must plan." Itachi told her.

The two began to pour over their knowledge of Sasuke and the abilities of the sharingan he would be in possesion of. Between his knowledge and Sakura's ability Sasuke was in for the reckoning of his life.


	15. Our Bloody Colours Wave

Music of the update: Ironically enough... "Everybody's fool" Evanescence, "Bury me alive" "Tear the whole world down" by We are the fallen.

**DISCLAIMER: Dark dark** chapter ahead. If you are under 18, I strongly suggest not reading. Brave the words and waters at your own risk. I earn my M rating well and full with this chapter for both grotesque violence and torture, and citrusy content. Consider yourself warned.

Shakespeare gets two quotes because he's awesome like that.

_"Sound trumpets! Let our bloody colours wave! And either victory, or else a grave" -William Shakespeare-_

The dark haired Uchiha prince sat, brooding on a cold throne chair. The epicenter of the empire he'd built from the ashes of sound and Orochimaru's subjects did not even tremble. It was an irony lost on the younger Uchiha because he simply couldn't have known how many of his kin had sat on an isolated throne at various intervals in their lives. But Sasuke was the only, the last as far as he was concerned. His world revolved always and only around himself.

Self conceited and inconsiderate, he fashioned himself the only true threat and power at this point. Madara would die soon enough, and perhaps even Sasuke would eventually tire of him and help him along to the grave. It would be a mercy stroke certainly. He twirled the kunai absently, every now and then, richocheting it off the wall for the contented ping sound it made as it scratched the concrete walls of his chambers. It seemed the only amusement life would afford him now a days.

It reminded him of battle, when he had felt alive. Now his world was lackluster, dull and grim. The light was gone. There was no challenge left, nothing that threatened him, that spurred his efforts forward. Without the sight of a goal, he had become more and more agitated, more and more withdrawn and anxious. His entire life had a motive, a goal, an objective. The loss of that was more crippling than it should have been. He was no better than Madara now.

It seemed the world was not enough, his own country of loyal subjects were not enough. He had shown the true power of the Uchiha and yet he had nothing. Absolutely nothing. There was nothing to challenge him anymore. Had he wanted he could have conquered the entire lands, forced the other countries to bow and submit to his will, crushed beneath his foot. But Sasuke didn't care about any of it.

He had realized, if he conquered the ninja world, then he would truly have no fight left and that vexed him. Aside from his lack of interest in politics, Sasuke _was_ a ninja. He found his worth, his power, his strength and identity in the heat of battle. He wasn't a figure head or a politician. He was a sword, forged in the fires of hate. The goal had already been accomplished. His brother had long since passed the underworld and that had been the start, the highlight of a victory, the start of the downward spiral. He had crippled Madara already, and deprived him of his victory.

Orochimaru was dead in every way that could be attested, even Kabuto whom he had slain shortly after. The only seinnin left was dead, according to the latest rumors. Most of the Akatsuki remnants were retired or dead. Kakashi was only a jounin rank at this point, old and degenerating. He held no useful challenge against his strength. He could go after Danzou, but the latest revolt in Konoha would take care of itself more than likely, insighting an entire country to rebellion or dividing it in ways it had been divided for years, before _his_ death.

And he had other reasons for avoiding fire country like a bad superstition. Bonds. Bonds he had thrown away so very long ago. Or rather a bond that he had intentionally severed, a bridge he had intentionally burnt to keep him from loosing focus; those embers still burned bright in the back of his minds eye. Those piercing jade eyes that were now the same as his, she was was the same as him when he had shattered her world, by killing Naruto. He hadn't wanted to acknowledge it at the time, he didn't want to acknowledge it now, but his lust for prowess and battle was too costly to process it. Now the clock had all but stopped, every second wasting, waiting. Sasuke had all the time in the world, time that was running like sand too quick between his fingertips.

What was the meaning of having everything and nothing? Even if he should rise to greatness he had nothing to show for it, no one to share it with, no one to bequeath it to when he died. He had built an empire but what would become of it all? He didn't have an heir. He was the last, and he had no one, nothing to inherit all that he had worked and fought for. His last and final goal, to ressurect the Uchiha clan, to start new with his own little ones had yet to be accomplished, the only goal that flickered the briefest glimmering of his former ambition.

Sakura was a fine choice of a woman. She had loved him in the past something that certainly couldn't be swept under the rug as easily as she wanted or as easily as he originally thought it could. Though she hated him now, atleast now she understood, she knew his pain, which shot her up the list of likely canidates. On top of that she had excellent chakra control, and a strength that could be passed down to his children. Finally of all the kunoichi he knew, she would make an excellent mother. His children would need a good mother, like his own had been before being ripped away from him, one that would love and cherish them as they should be loved and cherished.

It was fortunate that he had received her message. She wanted to meet him, in the grove of cherry blossum trees on the outskirts of his territory, a nuetral location. Perhaps to talk. Perhaps she wanted revenge. It amused him to do so, to see how those eyes had progressed. How she had progressed. He would make her his. The mangekyou burned bright in his eyes. She would have no choice in the matter.

…...

Sakura stood in the grove of cherry trees, the wind sharp and biting in its intensity. Pink petals scattered, the delicate flowers unable to hold onto their roots or the trees, fluttering through the air, the cold chill lifting them. They drifted into the sky, twirling and spiraling beyond. The trees shook, branches rattling, the sharp breeze chilled, cutting through her red vest. Years it had been since she had donned her old clothes. Sakura had lived in her anbu uniform, only taking it off when it was stained, or needing mending. It felt uncomfortable to be back in her old clothes. Like another lifetime ago, now lost and faded from her mind and indentity.

Like water dripping from a page, washing away the image of the former glory. Dark thoughts that she had thought vanquished, flooded, breaking through the carefully kept walls to conceal them, keep them close to her heart in the darkness. But Itachi had opened her eyes, had broken the floodgates and now she could only give way to their course and fury. Sasuke needed to be brought low, to be broken and tarnished, so horribly maligned that he would never again return to the surface of the ninja world. If he were even to be left alive. He had a lot to answer for.

Sakura had ignored so much about her life. Ignored her better judgement for loving Sasuke. Ignored how he has treated her. Ignored how her sensei had neglected her time and time again. Ignored how the pain of loosing Naruto ate away at her soul until shrivelled. There was little to nothing left.

Ignored how that punched out feeling in her chest echoed and resounded in desperation. Ignored the loss of her men that she had been foolish enough to trust. Ignored the loss of her shishou, the only master who had tried to train her who had believed in her strength. Who had abandoned her. Sakura had buried it all deep within herself, the only way she had kept her sanity, had not taken her own life in despair. It was this darkness that inner sakura was bathed in, shadowed and clothed in these past years. Inner Sakura had changed, and thus outer Sakura had changed. The darkness that had been there, been there all along, flowed like blood.

How Sakura wished this was more about justice, but revenge boiled, seething deep beneath her veins, hatred that ran from grief that had been buried, welling; pressing into her thoughts. Feelings coursed through her, fueled from her inner self drowning out Sakura as she felt the water rise over her head.

They were so impractical, she thought as she tugged at the medic skirt. But Sasuke would need to see that although things had changed, that she was still the same person he thought he knew.

Part of the seduction of a lie, was becoming the lie he believed as the truth...

_ Focus_ she ordered herself firmly. Everything was riding on this...on her ability to charm the man who had taken everything from her. But could she? She had no hold over this man. Had she ever? Tucking her pink hair behind her ear, she turned, straight into those sharingan eyes.

Damn him for catching her so off guard. No. She was not who she was in the past. Everything had been sacrificed. Everything. All for this simple chance. She would not, could not waste it.

Gasping in shock, she stepped back trying to be coquetish, instead of reaching for her kunai like she really wanted to. Her fingers did not twitch, did not betray her. She issued a silent thank you to her other half. Mask the anger, that threatened to consume her, that flared to life in every cell beneath the fibers of her skin. She stiffled the tremble of rage. If he suspected anything was off she would die. And she had bet everything on this. She couldn't let _him_ down. She wouldn't.

She allowed Inner Sakura to entertain the thoughts of his blood splattering across her old uniform, hot and sticky and sweet in their stain.

"S-Sasuke kun-" She stammered, hoping for a reasonable impression of her old self. She was not standing in a cherry grove with him. In her mind she was in a place of steel and rain, the smell of both fragrant, as if she was breathing it in now.

_She remembered those thin lips as he kissed his way up her spine, nibbling and nipping, leaving a trail of love bites in his wake as he had taken her...He smelled like death, and steel. Rain and life, all in one breathe, as she breathed him in, fully, intoxicated._

Sasuke was taller than she had remembered as she was forced to look up at him. His raven black hair was more unruly than she had ever remembered, oily and unwashed from her glance of it. This was a surprising thing for such a vain a creature as Sasuke. She imagined tearing it out by the roots as she remembered his cold blade slicing her beloved, taking her sunshine from this world. He had shattered her sun, had blown a hole through her world, stolen her daylight, casting her world in darkness unending. He had taken her to hell with him, buried her beneath the earth alive. She tasted it, this hell of a torment she had been living in since he'd taken Naruto from her.

Selfish arrogant _bastard_. It wasn't enough to destroy her world, to take the light from her eyes. He was still trying to take from her, still to use her. It was almost too much. She saw red for a moment, seething beneath her cool facade as she looked into the face of Naruto's murderor. Those eyes were darker, even with the sharingan he bore and grey smears stained beneath them. Apparently he wasn't sleeping well. Perhaps the toll was catching up to him, the reaper dancing on his grave in anticipation. Sakura could only hope.

His body was hardened, muscled lithe and nimble for a s class ninja, and his shoulders had filled out more over the years but he was sickly pale, a pallor that did more to emphasize his monstrosity, skin stretching taught over his face, haggard. He was older now, waner now. He wore a simple black vest, emblazoned with the uchiha symbol and pants tucked into ninja sandals, hiding whatever other weaponry he had on him. What Sakura had thought so attractive, was merely an illusion, a skeleton. A frame lacking warmth and luster.

"Sakura." Sasuke said, the corner of his lips twitching upwards in an attempt of a smile his voice husky. "Don't even think of trying anything." He said, sword sliding from it's sheath for her benefit.

_ Itachi's hot breathe mingled with hers, as she gasped, adjusting to the feeling of being so intimately intertwined, connected. _

"I'm not here to fight you Sasuke-kun" Sakura replied, staying perfectly still. If she so much as blinked wrong, he would not heisitate to kill her. He watched her expression, those eyes igniting with her helplessness, feeding off it, in his sickness. Sasuke had always liked to be in control. Sakura would bide her time. She would take the prince off of his throne once and for all.

_Itachi was connected, captivated, enthralled, sanctified, cradled in the haven between her legs, her body, between heaven and earth as he patiently waited for her, a gentleman even in his weakness. _

"Then what are you doing, Sa-ku-ra." Sasuke said, emphasizing every syllable of her name, it was oily as it slid off of his lips. Cheapened, Sakura shivered as he took as step forward, his kusanagi now at her throat. His eyes were suspicious, distrusting of everything and anything she said and yet captivating, haunting.

"I should be asking you the same question." She replied, eyes darkening pink eyebrow furrowing at the look.

He would think her annoying. Would equate her to her oldself, and disregard the notions of danger. What could she do to a mighty Uchiha? And in his hubris, doublefold lay his doom, hand in hand, noose tightening around that thick neck. It didn't really matter what he thought so long as he took the bait. The old Sakura would have wasted words like this with him, anything to keep him talking, to keep him near. The new Sakura wouldn't have wasted her breath, would have attacked him quick before he could respond.

_She nodded, her forehead against his collarbone though he was trembling with need, it meant the world that he waited for her. He surged against her, with a strangled moan and she answered the crashing waves of their bodies with a cry of her own. Earth. Heaven. _

Those eyes betrayed him, as a smirk slid its way across those pale features. He had bought it...Inner Sakura crooned with victory.

"I was curious to see what to make of you after all these years." He said, tone condescending and mocking as he had always been, but there was a different undertone in this. A subtle undertone, a smug smirking superiority, a secret. Desire.

He was far too close to her, invading her personal space. He had never allowed her this close. He had never been this close. She could feel his hot breathe, a breathe she noticed was sharper than the previous intake. Was..was Sasuke flirting with her? Sakura kept her face clear of any emotion except confusion for that he expected. She would meet his expectations... for now. She wrapped her coils, waiting, rattling, buzzing, relishing the chance to strike.

_And it begun the slow and steady build up of pressure, of wonderful friction so desperate, so delicious that she could not stop it, did not want to._

"And?" Sakura asked as he paced around her, kusanagi so close it almost slid across her skin as he walked. Those fingers touched her arm harshly, violently as they gripped her. Sakura flinched, the desperate desire to defend herself rising. No amount of scrubbing would not get this kind of dirt off her skin, this feeling of disgust.

"I find myself having a change of heart." Sasuke replied, releasing her arm. Purple marks he left, purposefully marking her as his own.

Sasuke watched her neck tilt just a fraction of angle and he knew he had her. Taking a strand of her hair, he gripped it in his hand and smelling it. Sakura smiled. _You are not the only one_ she thought, of her past.

_And tighter it wound, this beautiful tension between them, the heat, the need, the longing. It was rising between them building steadily like a stoked fire. Sakura was going to snap, would burst, break into a million pieces. _

Sakura drew a sharp take of breathe, as his arm wrapped around her, pulling her against him. _Treacherous murderor_, she thought darkly, keeping her body still as his musky scent enveloped her. In her youth, she would have killed for this. Now she wanted to scourge every inch of her skin he was touching, to burn it off. Better that than the alternative. Thoughts of putting her hand through his kidneys, or disabling all of his vital organs and slowly shutting them down one by one gave her the inspiration she needed. She sighed into it, leaning into him, closing her eyes, hoping her act would be enough for him.

"You still desire me." Sasuke stated, as he watched those black sooty eyelashes flutter.

_ Sakura could feel her desperation, ashamed as she begged, pleaded him to continue, needing to reach the crescendo, that plateau of ecstasy only he could provide her, that he had inspired in her. _

"S-sasuke kun." She stammered forcing her cheeks to flush. He turned her to face him, sharingan probing deep into her eyes.

Sakura met his look head on, gazing up at him becomingly as she focused on how she had felt before his betrayal. It needed to seem real. Her lovestruck gaze, the way he had ruled her very world. The sheer thrill of being close to him. Then she remembered that these eyes, were _his _and would soon be returned to him. And she didn't have to pretend.

Sasuke stepped forward, kusanagi still at her throat and he invaded her space, closing the distance between them without heisitation. His lips came closer, and Sakura closed her eyes, as she felt those cold chapped lips brush against hers.

_ For in her mind a different set of lips was kissing her, kissing away those tears as heaven and earth met in a flash of light and warmth and exhilaration that had temporarily blinded them both. _

Pleasant success exuded from her in waves. His kiss was disgusting, but it accomplished _exactly_ what she had wanted. Exactly what Itachi had predicted and planned. Exactly what she had needed him to do. The fly had just fallen into the web. She had struck and was not disappointed with her catch. He had kissed her and so sealed his doom. She grinned in exultant victory as he stepped back. He half stumbled.

"W-what?" He demanded slurring his words as his world spun the colors treacherous and jumping in his vision.

_ There was only one thought in her mind in that instant, a treacherous thought as she saw the stars trickle out of her eyes, as they collapsed together after he found his own release. _

Jade eyes grew malevolent and he had never seen a look so carnal, so evil in the eyes of the cherry blossum girl that he recoiled in horror. "A potent enough poison even for you, _dear Sasuke kun_." Sakura told him venemously, hands on her hips.

"Impossible." He murmured. "I would have seen it. Sensed it" He declared, though he fell to one knee, vision blurring.

_ That it had never been like this before._

"Not unless I had sealed a genjutsu inside of her to mask the trail. Seals are quite useful for eluding kekkai genkai." That lilting tenor, triumphant, told him. "You would have suspected something simple, foolish little brother."

There was only one voice that held that tone, that resonance. One tone that could hold that much contempt and hatred. It was the voice that had tormented him, haunted him in his worst fears. It was the voice that had chastened him, rebuked him in his trainings, kept him going until he collapsed and even then it's timbre mocked him.

It was the voice that had convinced him to give himself to the darkness, to give way to the hatred, because he had been weak. But the voice could no longer resonate. Sasuke had ensured so. Yet that lilting tenor, so resigned as it had been when he had arrived to slay the murderor of the Uchiha clan before. But that was impossible. Dead men didn't go around talking. Particularly not when they had perished at his feet. Sasuke had killed his brother, murdered him. There was no way. No possible conceivable way that he was still alive. And yet Uchiha Itachi stood before his already bleary eyes, his own eyes covered by his hitae ate with the slash.

The slash he had made with his own kunai, sealing his fate.

Had he been tricked? His fingernails drew blood on the inside of his hands, he felt the blood trickle, and with it he tried to break the genjutsu. Nothing happened as his vision spun. He could feel his breathe shorted, heart race, blood bubble, as his heart skipped a beat. Cold hard fear stabbed him, stomach dropping and clenching as the bial rose. But that was _impossible_. He had seen his brother's corpse...his corpse that held no life left in it. His eyes, eyes that held no mystery. How could this be? Madara. Uchiha Madara must have kept his corpse around, probably considered it a trophy but this? Men did not come back from the dead.

"H-how is this possible?" Sasuke demanded.

"I sealed myself within the recesses of their mind, allowing me to return to this plane of existence. And lo and behold, what do I find?" Itachi's voice was condeming.

"One _foolish_ little brother, wasting every chance and opportunity I'd given him to change. Your existence is a weakness to everything the Uchiha stood for. You have abandoned your team, your country, and for what? Selfish ambition and weak personal pride that has failed you in the end." Itachi told him in no unsimple terms.

It was the sentence of a judge, bore the weight of a king's edict.

And suddenly he _knew_ why he was here, why she was _here _with _him_. Itachi's eyes. They were here for _his_ eyes.

"No...No...NOOOOOooo!" He shrieked, as the darkness grew around the orbs of his eyes, swallowing his consiousness. In his despair he lashed out with his kusanagi. Sakura foot, kicked the weapon and his face hard, before he fell to the ground, motionless.

…...

"Wake up _Sasuke kun_." That voice held more malevolence than he had ever recalled the petal haired girl bearing and he felt the cold slap of her hand on his face.

He could feel the drugs in his system, throwing off his equilibrium. His sense of depth perception was deeply escewed. He didn't know how far Sakura was from him, but he still retained his sight. His neck, shoulders, forearms, wrists and thighs and feet were bound with metal so tight it was painfully uncomfortable, cutting off circulation, his limbs already tingled, asleep. There would be no breaking these holds.

His face throbbed, could feel the sticky congeal of blood clotted. She had broken his cheek, the swelling throbbing painfully. He was propped up against against a wall, held up by the tension in the metal markers, each bearing seals. His chakra had been drained with those seals, locked away beyond his reaches. He could not use his chakra to access his eyes. To add insult to injury he saw the tenketsu marks lining his exposed arms. His brother had copied the Hyuuga techniques making doubly sure there would be no escape. All of his weapons had been he could feel the seals around him, in a circle blocking any outside help he may have been able to summon. He could not use the shuriken at his wrists. The seals he had hidden on his body, none of them tingled with the power he knew should be hiding there. Sasuke felt the horror begin to sink in. He had told no one of those seals, no one.

The senbon he had buried beneath his skin was missing. The various senbon he kept concealed within his clothes, his sandals were gone. His eyes could not summon his birthright, could barely see clearly. He was weak, drenched in sweat, drained, physically weakened as his body trembled, unnatural from the amount of chemicals flowing, writhing in him. They had thought of everything, every angle or attempt he might have used to escape. Sasuke felt the cold grip of terror claw at him.

"Sa-Sakura.." Sasuke's lips were dry as he licked them. She had never heard him sound so weak. She savored it, drank it in like a sweet wine. Good.

"What do you plan to do?" He asked, though he already knew the answer. It was so clear. He felt himself falling, staring up at her, six feet below her as she stood over his grave, the grave he had dug, the grave she had pushed him into.

"You're stalling." That lilting tenor was condescending. "You think if you can keep her talking long enough you will be able to find some sort of weakness, some fault that she has made to give you time to escape. There will be no more running Otoutou." Itachi's told him, lilting tenor sharp, holding a measure of resolve he had never heard from his Aniki before.

Fear gave way to Panic and swift anger coursed through the brat prince.

"Fuck you! You're not the real Itachi! I killed him, so whoever you are, you fake, you can go to hell and take that worthless bitch with you!" Sasuke snarled.

His words seemed to have the opposite effect for Sakura's smile grew feral, those eyes darkening to the green of an ocean, its depths unfathomed by the likes of men. Creatures lurked beneath the surface of those eyes, green seas turbolent.

"Rest assured. He is the real Uchiha Itachi." Sakura replied her voice low as she ran her hands lovingly over her tools. "How do I know?" She answered her own question. "Because I was the one who raised him." She picked up her scalpel.

Sasuke felt the cold, numb as he looked her straight in the eye. "Sakura, don't do this." He pleaded. "Don't help this murderor-"

"Murderor? MURDEROR?" Sakura screamed, her hysterical tone hurting his ears as she hit him. He felt the world spin too far and too fast for him to keep up with.

"SHANNARO! You are the murderor, you bastard _traitor_!" Sakura snapped. "What Itachi did was under orders of the sandaime. What you have done was of your own volition, your own selfish and wounded pride. It wasn't enough that you left. You had to take him with you! To give one last insult to injury at the cost of team seven." Sakura accused.

Sasuke said nothing to this. He had always been jealous of Naruto, their rivalry long standing. Part of him killing the whisker cheeked ninja had been to prove he always would be. And part of him killing Naruto proved that he would never be, that he could never go back from that stain on his soul. Sasuke had done it to test the strength of his resolve. And now he would face the strength of hers.

In some sick twisted way, he had created this, had created her. For the Sakura of old would have never done what she would do now with iniquity. What he had forced her to do. The metaphorical noose around his neck tightened, rope raised.

"And make _no_ mistake, you will _reap _the consequences of your actions." Sakura said, stepping forward.

Itachi stood next to his brother on the other side of Sakura as she drew the scalpel forward.

"You will feel every inch of pain as I take Itachi's eyes from you. The drugs I've injected into you will see to that end I assure you. While they keep you from being able to form your chakra, they will not numb the pain. I want you to know that I _want_ you to feel every agonizing moment " Sakura snarled.

"I have survived worse" Sasuke spat at her. Bravada in the face of terror. Nothing more.

Sakura smiled. She smiled until he could hear the grinding of her enamel. She grabbed a fistful of his hair, ripping it viciously as he winced.

"I want you to know that I could paralyze every bone in your body, crush them, grind them into fine dust and make you eat them until you died." Sakura's voice was like honey.

"I could shut down every vital organ in your body, one by one, so slowly and agonizingly you would beg me for death first. You would break in my hands and weep like a wretched child" Her voice rose in crescendo as she spoke.

"I could cut your nerves, so that you could never walk or move again and deposit you in the land of your enemies. I could shut down your immune system and leave you here to die, your own body turning against you. You would drown in your fluids, asphyxiated." Her voice was practically a bellow at this point.

"but I think, taking back his eyes is enough for me." Sakura said, voice low, and resolved as she cut into his skin.

She struck fast and quick in that moment.

His screams of agony were sweet sweet music to her ears, as her memories replayed over and over again of Blue eyes the color of a Konoha sky, of tan skin, and whiskered cheeks and Wheat colored blonde hair. His laughter, his smile, the unfailing optimism. He had taken her sun from her. She would only act in kind, in turn, as he would have acted, and take the sun from his eyes.

…...

Sakura wiped her hands on the towel, removing her gloves. Sasuke's eyesockets bleed freely. He mumbled in his pain induced haze, a few wounds bleeding that she had inflicted to cause more of it. Sasuke muttered incoherantly, confused but not freed from the agony Sakura had inflicted. She had gone about the process in the most painful way possible that maintained the integrity of the eyes. She had left him with a scar over his left eye. She turned to her other patient, who blinked several times, long black eyelashes touching his pale skin as he looked at her as if for the first time.

"Do you have any sensitivity to light, or heat?" She asked, looking deep into those eyes, clinically as she summoned some chakra, checking as his eyes dialated.

"None" He told her, dark mahogany red eyes mesmorizing. They were different in his own body. Being in Sasuke's sockets had not corrupted them, it seemed. Sakura blushed. He grabbed her hand, pulling her close. "What a gift you have given me, Sakura. What a miracle." He told her, kissing her hard.

Sasuke's breathing was harsh, ragged as he became hysterical through his sobs. He could not see. He could not see.

Sakura broke the kiss, stepping towards the wreck of a man she had broken.

"From this day forward, I never knew you" Sakura repeated those haunting words, his very words. "Consider this my act of _mercy_." She practically spat the words.

"You can have your miserable life. Bury any memories you once had of me. Because If I see you again, Sasuke, I swear to Kami sama almighty, I will not hesitate to kill you" Her voice unsettling, she grabbed her equipment, and left him there in the darkness, the rustling of Itachi's akatsuki robes rustling after her.


	16. Unassailable

Music of the update: "The other side" by Evanescence

"_Nobody __is__ more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart; for his purity, by definition, is unassailable." -James A Baldwin-_

It had taken a few hours of rest, rest he had desperately and selfishly needed after his encounter with Sakura. Shakily he rubbed his bloodshot eyes, the Sharingan writhing inside of his eye from the strain. But Kakashi had pushed the limits before and this was no different. Sakura had done it. He couldn't believe she had chosen Itachi and part of him was still reeling from the shock of it all. But he was helpless to do anything, other than walk the path he had been given. The raven haired uchiha prodigy had seen to that, had thoroughly evaluated and planned for his seduction of her. Kakashi felt weary, so tired of it all. If Kakashi interfered, or had tried to take Sakura by force, it would only prove his accusation to be the truth.

Kakashi was not sorry for the accusation. He would do anything to protect her, even if that meant from herself. Itachi had counted on that weakness, exploited it. Itachi had thought of it all really, playing Kakashi's duty against his regard for his former student and teammate. Defeated, the copy ninja could do no more than what he had already planned, put one step closer to his death which this would probably inevitably be. Kakashi did not want to give Itachi credit for that. Itachi could not have predicted he would choose to save Konoha, had probably anticipated a fight.

The copy ninja had brushed with death many times. It felt like an old friend with how familiar he was becoming with it, but death never seemed to want him. It always came for his friends. Memories of buried teammates washed over him like years. He had lived lifetimes. Perhaps it was finally his turn for peace. Eternal rest. _Obito. Rin. I'm coming._ He could feel the spectre breathing down the back of his neck, the hairs standing on edge and he welcomed it.

Were Rin or Obito alive they would have been scolding him for such thoughts. As it was they were the voices in the back of his head. Reminding him he was not his father's son and to cling to life. The sky was grey, the smoke could be seen still from Konoha burning, and Kakashi could smell the thunder brewing. Well, they were wrong. Sometimes holding on was asking too much.

Kakashi could feel Root anbu closing in, forming the tight perimeter around the refugee leaf. Their chakra signatures had a musky scent to them. Ashes, from Konoha no doubt. Their plan was as clear as day to the sharingan user. They would strike hard and fast in their v formation, spreading themselves out and ambush the people, cutting off their ability to proceed forward or break through. Kakashi knew he was outmatched and outclassed before this battle even began.

Itachi had known that. Kakashi grimaced. Odds had never stopped him before, would not stop him now. The people panicked as they sensed the root anbu members. It was clear to Kakashi that many of them were injured, and had used up their chakra to get this far. The root ninja would tear them apart if he did not do something. It was now or never. Kakashi flew into the disarray, striking hard and fast into the flank, forcing them to pay attention to him as their formation shifted to defend. They were so fast, nearly as fast as he had been. Kakashi was forced to admire their teamwork as he cursed it, taking two root ninja's lives with a chidori blast through them as he dodged a volley of kunai and senbon meant to kill.

If he could save some of the refugees, then it would be worth it. Blood flew into the sand, a testament to just how close the people of Konoha were to the border of sand country. There was no greater honor than dying for his comrades. If he had to die so that these could live, then he had fulfilled his purpose in life.

Kakashi dodged the wind jutsu flying towards him, sharingan copying the technique and giving it back to them full force.

He turned, taking a slash to the face, before killing the next root anbu member. He could feel the summons on power, and turned intime to see the tidal wave of stone, surfacing to engulf him. Earth jutsu rose 50 feet in the air, 3 other waves coming from different directions to swallow him whole. He lanced his chidori through the coils of chakra in his body, but the wave of earth did not stop, in fact it pummeled through his attack. This was more than just one ninja working this jutsu. It must have been three of them. This was it he thought as he could feel the pressure of rock exploding around him. Kakashi would die. He consoled himself in that it would be a rather quick death. He closed his eyes in acceptance and resignation as the last of his strength poured out. He felt the enormous pressure crushing down upon him. And then felt the enormous weight lift off of him, and felt the deaths of enemy chakra signatures dissapear. Kakashi's eyes flew open. A huge inked dog stood above him, having dug aside the rocks. Sai in root anbu gear appeared by his side.

Black and Sharingan eyes blinked. Death it seemed had a capricious nature.

"Greetings Kakashi san. You looked like you required some assistance. Are you injured?" Sai greeted the hint of a smirk pulling at the corners of his otherwise expressionless face.

It took a few moments for Kakashi to catch up to the rapid change of thoughts entering his mind. He was not dead was the final processed thought before his mind caught up.

"You couldn't have had better timing Sai." Kakashi replied with a weary grin.

"I did not come alone." Sai retorted, and the sounds of Konoha's green beast, roared into fury as Maito Gai ripped through the root ninja. Ino lay on the floor, surrounded by her team as Shikamaru and Chouji kept her protected, whilst she wreaked havoc on the root members. Shadows twisted around throats, breaking necks, and root ninja turned against root ninja with the shintenshin no jutsu.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, marveling at it all.

"We meet again my esteemed rival. This time, the victory belongs to me."

Kakashi shook his head chuckling. "I suppose so." He offered his hand in congratulations to the green beast.

"No thanks is needed, my esteemed rival. We must hurry and get our people across the desert" Gai replied.

"Did you come from Konoha?" Kakashi asked.

Gai nodded and looked to Sai. "It was the bright flame of your students youth that saved me. We barely escaped with our lives. "

Kakashi looked to Sai who shrugged.

"I stayed with Root long enough to get as many out as I could. I knew they were holding Ino, and the others. It was the best I could do."

"It was plenty, Sai. You did well. What about Tsunade?" Kakashi asked.

Gai hung his head, tears in his eyes. "The flame of her youth..." He could not continue.

Kakashi looked to Sai.

Sai merely shook his head.

"Oh." Kakashi replied, his voice awkward and small. The sky crackled, thunder having brewed, spilled over, and split the skies. In something of a miracle in and of itself for the desert, it began to rain. The rain would stop the fires, and would cover their tracks a bit. Feeling it wash over him, Kakashi felt the stirrings of hope. They could make it to sand. Surely Gaara would take them in?

…...

Sakura walked into the sunlight from beneath the underground facility as if unseeing. Black eyelashes flickered in the sharp light. The rays were overwhelming, overtaking as her eyelids closed sweet darkness descending, enveloping, but even the darkness stood no chance against the sinking feeling inside of herself. She opened those pale green eyes again, against her wishes. Sakura knew she had to continue, she just didn't want to. She had never felt so helpless, so lost before in her entire life.

She was just as grey as everyone else now.

His eyes, given to him by the talents of her hands, the skill of her medic chakra, adjusted to the light with minimal effort, but Sakura's did not. She hid from it, shrank from the sunlight, hiding behind her hands and noticed the smell of blood. It was still caked beneath her fingernails, possibly beneath the scars on her heart. The shadows of the canopy of the forest embraced those eyes, changing them to a green that was duller than it's normal intensity. She had never looked so lost. He had been watching her, studying her for years inside Naruto. This, however, was seeing her with new eyes, in a new light. He had much to thank Sakura for. One of which was the potential for him to gain further power. The transfer might have unlocked new and powerful abilities, but he would study that later. Currently he was enraptured, and consumed by the petal haired nin.

Sakura had changed, aged over the few hours they had been preoccupied with Sasuke. He could see the weariness in her form, the way her shoulders sagged, in the defeated look in those verdant eyes and the helplessness that followed. Perhaps it had been a mistake to allow her to exact justice upon Sasuke, but he had felt that, too, was important for her to recognize within herself. He did not want a naïve Sakura, one that did not know the entirety, the potential of her abilities.

Itachi _needed_ her, compromised, like him. It sounded harsh, but he had solid reasoning to stand for it. Now that he was invested in her, he would do whatever it took to keep her with him. If she herself, had conceded on those principles, then Sakura could not use her antiquated sense of justice to keep her from him. He had unlocked something deep within the petal haired nin, but whether it was good or bad he could not discern yet. But he knew her strength and the depth of character and feeling that she possessed. He, a man of bitter doubt and uncertainty in anything definitive, found faith in her, in the goodness within her.

He led the exit and she followed. Sakura leapt from branch to branch mechanically but it was clear that her mind, her thoughts were far from this place. If she saw the remnants of Sasuke's old team, she ignored them, and as she ignored them, _he_ ignored them.

They felt _his_ presence most assuredly, and were startled to say the least. He could feel it in their ki, in the anxious glances exchanged between them. Team Hebi stopped in their hunt for their former leader, awaiting the outcome, the decision of the two formidable nin and seemed content to leave it up to them to decide whether the battle would commence. But they did not attack. Smart of them. Had they been led to provocation, Itachi would have retaliated with unabolished power in spite of Sakura's initial mercy.

They were fortunate Sakura had been so leinient and preoccupied with her pain. Itachi would have left no trace, no body left to find and no witnesses to tell of the tale. He would have decimated their team just for discovering them. But he would respect Sakura's wishes. It seemed odd perhaps in light of their circumstances.

Itachi had decided he would accept Sakura's punishment for Sasuke, whatever that would be. She was the most likely choice; the least compromised and the most affected by the affair of the two of them. Death had an interesting way of settling any former propensity Itachi felt for his brother. Sasuke had gotten his revenge, had killed Itachi's body. Instead of changing and growing, finding closure and moving on with his life, Sasuke had fallen further. Itachi's efforts to change his brother had failed. Perhaps hers would be more successful. Her punishment for him would atleast keep him deterred from his course of action for a time. He was pleased that she had spared him, pleased that she found it within herself to give him another chance even if she saw it as a failure herself.

Sharingan eyes fixed themselves on the direction of fire village. It was only a matter of time though. He feared another encounter with his brother would be unavoidable and Itachi needed to prepare for that future, because unless Sasuke changed, he would forever be against Konoha, that which Sakura loved, and Itachi would see no more harm come to her. He had never thought he would defend Konoha again after everything that had happened, but he found his loyalty to Sakura triumphed even over his pain of the past. Itachi had never believed something could change him so definitively, could ever change his circumstances. And he found as he thought more of it, he did not regret the change, or her for the change inspired within himself.

Team Hebi was panicked as they crossed paths, frozen in place, unsure of whether to move towards them or move away. They did not want to be seen as running away from the enemy, nor did they want to provoke them either. Sakura and he merely lit from tree branch to tree branch, ignoring the makeshift team entirely. Had she wanted to do something to them, she would have initiated a fight. It proved one more thing about the petal haired nin which gave him hope for their time to come. She still had a heart. Sasuke had ruined her own teammates, had murdered one and destroyed the lives of the others. Sakura did not seek her wrath, an equal toll upon his team, a fact that Sasuke would never consider, but was granted with Sakura's capricious giving nature, nonetheless.

It was one of the reasons he had chosen her. Sakura was biased, tarnished. She was the same as him now. It was as personal for her, as it was for him. This was not about revenge. It was about justice. He could not say he regretted her leaving Sasuke alive, though it was probably crueler. His brother deserved no more, no less for the harm he had inflicted upon the ninja world. He could have his life, much good it would do him. Perhaps with his sight gone, he would finally see the truth. For it had been that same truth that struck Itachi in his blindness, that caused him to be so giving and so conceding now. Perhaps his brother would find the same.

He loved her. That made things all the more complicated, ruined most of his half formed plans and completely shifted the future of the rest. For all that she was, for her flaws and features, He was in love with Haruno Sakura. And thus her hurts, and her pains troubled him. This had been the hardest hurdle she'd had to overcome, the hardest he'd had to overcome, and it had exacted it's toll upon her and he could see it beneath his sharingan eyes. They traveled further and it was not long until she finally collapsed, not physically tired, burdened with emotional turmoil.

"Sakura" Itachi began, but Sakura had already fallen.

She withered, wilting before his eyes. The strength she previously had was as if it had never been and it fascinated him as it pulled at his heart strings. She was so strong and yet so fragile and delicate. She fell to her knees, tears already streaming down her face as she began to sob. Sakura dug her hands into the dirt, began to wail in earnest, and her sobs became hysterical as she spun wildly out of control. Itachi intervened, stopped her before she could injure herself as one pulls up a screaming child. Into his arms, she felt smothered, overwhelmed by the softness, enfolded in the darkness of his silky akatsuki robe.

"I'm a m-monster" She grieved. "I'm n-no better than h-him" She hiccuped, nose running as she fought his hold. Itachi felt the tethers of his heart strings wind, wrapping tenderly around her as his arms did, and he pulled her closer, stroking her hair.

"No, dearest." Itachi murmured. "I doubt he has ever felt remorse for anything he has done. Sasuke merely justified his sins, as an excuse to get to me. If he utilized his goal to reach me, then he could not no longer be responsible for his actions." Itachi soothed. Sharingan eyes demanded the entirety of her attention as she wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"_You _are not him." His tenor invoked.

Sakura looked up at him startled.

"You, dear one, feel every sorrow, every remorse, every sting from every hurt. You are wrapped up in the desire to save." He told her, and watched as if it had never occurred to her before to think in such a way. It probably hadn't. She was so precocious, so precious. "And what you just did pushed against everything you believed in, but you still found the strength to recognize that it needed to be done." Itachi told her, stroking her hair, and kissing the tears that streamed down her face. They were sacred tears.

"And I am sorrier than you know, that you had to do it." Itachi told her.

Sakura's jade eyes widened at the admonition. It was an odd feeling, a contradiction of her feelings and senses, for Sakura had formerly never felt so lost and alone, and in that very same moment as she was held in his arms, looked deep into his eyes, heard his words, and sought his comfort that she had never felt so profoundly understood, and recognized for who she truly was. He knew her. He understood her and was able to remind her of who she really was when she lost sight of it.

And Sakura knew the sun would shine again, though perhaps not as soon as she wanted it to. This would hurt, and would bleed, but eventually it would heal. The bleeding would stop because the wound was cleaned, cleansed and bandaged, salved by his words, by her own character and the truth of who she was and of him recognizing it. She had hated what she had done to Sasuke and to herself while she had taken Itachi's eyes back from Sasuke, but Sakura did not hate herself for doing what had needed to be done, and therein lay the truth for her, the strength to eventually forgive herself.

She had stopped Sasuke, the only way she knew how, and it wasn't right, but what was in their world of ninja? She could not justify her actions, did not seek to do so. It was wrong, but she would not regret them either, resolved in her course of actions, even in spite of them. It was the only thing she could do and she had done it. Naruto may not have approved of it, but Naruto wasn't here and it was because he had not acted that Naruto had died, had allowed Sasuke to kill him.

P_erhaps that had been his failure _as Sakura thought back to it. Naruto was so convinced Sasuke would come back that he could not see the darkness there. She could not fault Naruto for it, she harbored no ill regret from him, after all Sakura had gone along with it as well, up until her husband's death.

It had taken Naruto being ripped from her world for Sakura to see Sasuke for what he really was, to understand the kind of darkness lurking within him. For she had always believed he would never kill Naruto, could never do such a thing. It was this act that had sealed her own actions. She could not let him kill another, perhaps someone who would become like Naruto. And it startled her to think that this was how Tsunade shishou had overcome her past tragedy, had recovered from loosing those people so precious to her. She had found hope in the next generation to stand in front of the darkness, in Naruto, in Sakura herself, thus sending her away.

So Sakura had done it. Had granted capricious grace, and supreme justice in her one strike. Sasuke would not have the opportunity to hurt another, unless he made it so, proved his character for evil once and for all. She had spared his life, but taken his primary weapon from him, a weapon that was not even his to have and take. She had also still given him a chance, a choice. If and when Sasuke did rise again, she would stop him, have no further opportunity to regret her actions and kill him without any further regret.

The storm had come, had crashed against her walls, had roared and sent it's fury at her. And those walls, to her incredible shock, had stood. Itachi had fortified her within him, had made her fate his fate. He had stood by her, giving her the strength to see this through, no matter what happened. He did not judge her, understood what she had to do better than anyone else could. He had, by knowing the truth about her, and who she really was, brought it out, that strength, held up the mirror to remind her of who she really was, when all seemed lost.

Sakura snuggled close, the feel of that satin robe so silky against her skin. She wiped her tears on her sleeve, sniffling and drying her tears. There could be no sorrow with a love this deep, this intimate and intense. He was supporting her now, when he should turn away, and that proved something deeper about him, about what was between them. Sakura knew in that moment, that he loved her. He had as much invested into this as she did, and he probably had his own hurts, his own sorrows and wounds on the subject and yet he was still here sheltering her.

"If the blame falls on anyone, Sakura, it falls on me. I was the one who got you into this. So please. Don't cry." Itachi told her as tenderly as he had ever spoken to her before.

Sakura reached for his hand. Interlacing her fingers between his own she smiled up at him.

"Thank you, Itachi." She told him.

AN: This chapter holds so many mixed emotions for me and I'm not sure if I'm going to continue or write a very short epilogue for this fic because this was the fulcrum for Sakura I feel. I wanted to show the depth and reality of Sakura and her moral dilemmas, but also the higher purpose and reason for it all. My favorite part about the possibility of this circumstance was that it shows that no matter what Itachi stands by her. I showed a side of Sakura's monster and I wanted to also show the goodness and the fall out of such a decision. I have found facets in Sakura and Itachi in this fic that have been an absolute pleasure to write and also extremely difficult to write, but needed, or atleast I think so, given the circumstances, to be true to who I think they are. Thank you for putting up with my rambles and what if's and circumstances and please let me know if you want an epilogue or if you think this ending is good.


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